It Only Takes One
by ShuffleCat
Summary: Pitch Black has attacked the warren and destroyed easter. The Guardians have decided that Jack Frost aided him, betraying them to get his memories. Jack decides after another confrontation with Pitch that the best solution is to hide.
1. Chapter 1 - The World's Loneliest Boy

_This story is another bit of a word garble There is no real middle or end in mind yet, but I hope to eventually get there. Feed back, comments and ideas always welcome. Enjoy!_

 **Chapter 1**

 _ **The World's Loneliest Boy**_

Jack laid against the ice in the bottom of the crevice; he hadn't tried to move after he fallen. He thought back on the past few hours; the tooth fairies, the tooth box, the others thinking he had betrayed them and then Pitch finding him. Everything they had all said hurt so badly, because as much as Jack didn't want to believe it all; the tiny part of him that was so hurt, took all of the words as truth. His staff lay in two pieces near his legs. Pitch had snapped it as if it were any old twig he had picked up off the forest floor, and had simply thrown it away. Slowly Jack sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it had struck the wall of ice behind him. He looked up at the walls of ice that made up the crevice and sighed; they were high. He picked up the pieces of his staff and rested the crook over his shoulder, holding the other one in his hand.

Jack walked over to one of the walls and began the task he had set himself; climbing. He slowly, and carefully began to climb his way up the wall of ice. He was able to create small handholds in the wall as he climbed. Despite it being what came so naturally to him, the cold, Jack felt it was draining him more than normal. His head ached, his arms and legs felt weak and even though he tried so hard to ignore it, his chest was about ready to explode. Jack wondered if he'd even be able to use his staff if he managed to fix it; he was convinced that he was pouring the last of his powers into climbing this wall. The climb was slowed by his need to bring the staff with him, constantly juggling it and catching it when it would slip from his grip. Jack focused on his climb, not noticing the flutter of tiny wings that followed him as he climbed upwards, making his way out of the crevice.

Jack finally collapsed onto his back, after he had managed to pull himself over the top edge of the wall. The two pieces of his staff clattered against the ice, falling next to him. Baby Tooth hovered nearby, unsure of what to do. Her Jack was upset; her Jack who had been tricked by Pitch when he had tried to help her. Baby Tooth hovered above the crook of Jack's staff. Jack opened his eyes and saw Baby Tooth nearby.

"You okay?' He asked. Baby Tooth responded by flying to Jack and snuggling into his hoodie pocket. Jack sat up and let out a single sob, catching the rest in his throat, which burned as he refused to let himself cry over everything that had happened.

"Oh Baby Tooth, it's all gone wrong. I just… I wanted them to believe in me. I don't deserve for the children to believe, I know that now, but for…them to just… they're meant to help!" He couldn't stop it now; the sobs came fast from his throat. He leant over, his knees buried in the snow, and cried into the snow that covered the ground. 'I tried! I really, really did… I'm so sorry Baby Tooth." Jack sobbed out, sitting back up and looking the pocket on his hoodie. Jack felt something move in his pocket, something much heavier than a tooth fairy. He pulled the memory box out of the pocket and stared at it, then dropped it next to him. Baby Tooth came out of the pocket and watched from overhead as Jack dug into the snow with his hands, chipping away at the ice underneath with one of the broken ends of his staff. Hours passed as Jack dug into the snow, not making noise besides tired grunting every now and then.

Finally he stood, looking at how deep the hole was. Jack kicked the memory box into the hole and using the crook of his broken staff, began to push the snow back into the hole. When Jack was satisfied with his work, he turned and walked from the hole. The chunk of land he was on was small, it was made up almost entirely of ice and snow, with some stone caught up in the mass. Baby Tooth chirped frantically, trying to push the snow away from the hole, then following after Jack. The little fairy flew as fast as she could, trying to catch up to Jack. Soon, Jack came to the other end of the small island; this end was more rocky than the other, and felt more solid as he stepped onto it. It was strange feeling the stone under his bare feet, the feeling of it had always felt odd. It reminded him of ice but it wasn't as cold, it felt like something was missing from it. Jack sat on the end of a large portion of rock that jutted out from the island, and hung his legs voer the edge, above the cold ocean that was below him. Baby Tooth sat on Jack's shoulder and nestled against his neck, hoping her company would help the boy.

Jack stared out at the water; watching as it rippled and crashed against itself and the island. The water would be freezing, the little creatures that were in it adapted to the cold a long time ago. Jack wasn't a fan of water that wasn't frozen, or falling from the sky as snow; he had never figured out why. All he knew was that being near bodies of water made him more uncomfortable than anything else. Today he stared at the water and ignored the feeling of fear it pushed into his head. He watched the ocean move, for the first time admiring how beautiful it was. He had flown above it plenty of times, but had never really paid attention to it.

Jack ran his fingers over the wood that the crook of his staff was made from; it felt awful. The once smooth wood now felt jagged in his hands, like it was ready to fill the skin of his hand in splinters. Jack pulled his arm back and without thinking about what he was doing, flung the wood forwards. He waited for the splash but had to dodge, as the crook seemed to boomerang back towards him. Dodge moved his head out of the way just in case, and heard the wood crash into a mound of snow. Jack stared with bewilderment at the wood that was half buried in the snow. He grabbed the wood and tried again, and again, trying to throw either end of the staff into the ocean below him. Each time he would throw it off the edge of the rocky outcrop it would turn and fly back at him, which he would have to dodge. Each time it caught him off guard; he never truly expected it to come back. Baby Tooth watched on, cheering everytime it would fly back to Jack. She was a little confused about what her boy was doing but, he seemed to be enjoying. She wasn't wrong, Jack had begun to grin each time the wood flew back, without realising it. Jack slumped down again, sitting on the ground and rested against a larger piece of rock. He looked at the two halves of his staff, which were laying on the ground in front of him.

"You seem pretty convinced you belong with me, so now would be a good time to tell me how to fix you." He told the staff, disappointed when nothing happened. Jack fell asleep where he was sitting, Baby Tooth nestled into his pocket. The two of them slept for the rest of that day, and most of the next as well. Jack was exhausted, he felt like he was ready to sleep forever.


	2. Chapter 2 - Judging Too Early

**Chapter Two**

 _ **Judging Too Early**_

The four Guardians had done a worldwide search; for Pitch and for any lingering danger they could find. Besides a few lone nightmares that were easily dealt with, they did not find anything in their search. The Guardians had gathered at North's Workshop; the North Pole, to discuss what they should do next. They all glanced at the globe every so often, expecting to had gone completely dark but, it shone nearly as bright asever, a few stray lights had gone out but, that was a usual sight. Children grew up, or momentarily stopped believing to a tragedy or personal trauma. North slammed shut the large book he had been skimming through for the past few hours.

"Bah, no use! Person who could help is unable!" He said, his voice strained.

"Ah mate, Manny doesn't seem to fussed now, ol' moon's got things to do." Bunny replied.

"Ah yes, Manny." North said, not looking to the Pooka.

"North? Mate, she can't help us with this. What would she do?" Bunny asked.

"She would have ideas; many good ideas that could fix it. Always have good ideas."

"She was a child North, she couldn't help with this. She- she wouldn't even be able to see him." Bunny said, ignoring the odd feeling in his stomach the words had churned up.

Toothiana seemed to catch on to the conversation and shot Bunny a nasty glare. The Pooka looked hurt from Toothiana's apparent annoyance at his words.

"Katherine believed in many wonderful things, and many horrible things. She believed in everything; she would have seen him." She said.

"Where does the kid fall in that then?" Bunny asked; unsure where to place the frosty kid.

"You really believe in that brat of a child that much?" The voice was everywhere, but had no source that the Guardians could see. It was a cold, mocking voice, that was easily recognisable.

"Pitch, get out of North Pole!" North shouted, standing from his seat.

"What a horrible host you are! So very rude to your guests. I thought you were having a little party, with you all here. Have you done a roll call?" Pitch asked, and the Guardians could feel the shadows move, as if he was looking around the room. "I see a rabbit, a fat old man, an annoying little fairy, a tiny man made of sand an- oh no, you're missing someone!" Pitch's fake shock was accompanied by a short shocked scream, as if he could scarcely believe Jack was gone.

"He isn't here, this is a Guardians meeting." Bunny said, his temper rising.

"Oooh that is _harsh_ rabbit, he was chosen by the man in the moon, was he not?" Pitch's question had a strange tone to it, none of the guardians could pick what it was.

"Man in Moon make mistakes, is not impossible." North said, defending Manny, ready to fight. The Guardians did not expect the laughter that followed; it was a horrible laugh, and the Guardians knew what that tone of voice had been. _Joy._ It felt wrong, it sounded wrong, it was a twisted sense of joy that belonged to Pitch, and Pitch alone.

"That is very true. This first mistake was believing in that brat of a girl he seemed to like so much, and his next mistake was trusting the lot of you with the children! That is, what I can safely say, was his last mistake." The words seemed to slap the Guardians, and the shadows retreated back to normal, brightening the room that the Guardians hadn't noticed had grown so dark.

"I haven't got her." Pitch's words stunned Toothiana, who had opened her mouth. Finally, the cold darkness that had filled the room, was gone. Toothiana let out a pained wail and fell to her knees.

"My fairy! What has he done to- oh god where is she?" She cried soft tears, needing answers. It had been a week since the attack on the warren and she hadn't seen the little fairy since. It was a painful feeling, not knowing where one of her fairies was.

"Well he must have her, she would have come back if she could Tooth, we'll get her back." Bunny tried to assure her, but the cries came louder.

"Ah, little flying thing!" North shouted as the little blur of green and blue came into the room. Baby Tooth had felt her mother's distress and came to make sure everything was as okay as it could be, given the situation.

"Where have you been? I've been so worried!" Tooth went to grab the little fairy, to check that she was okay. Baby Tooth moved back, hovering away from her mother and the others.

"Don't be silly, I've been worried sick about you-" Tooth was interrupted by the tiny fairy, who had been nicknamed Baby Tooth, as she began to chirp loudly at Toothiana. The other Guardians could not understand what was being said, but they could understand the tone of what was being said; the little fairy was mad. Tooth held a hand over her mouth, and stared at the tiny fairy, then squeaked in shock as the fairy flew from the room.

"No, come back!" Tooth shouted after her, but the tiny fairy was gone.

North and Bunny looked at Toothiana, Sandy floated over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She's gone back to him." She whispered, the others were confused. It was Sandy who clued them in, making a snowflake from sandy above his head.

"Is she mad!?" Bunny half shouted the question.

"Oh my god, very, so very mad; at us." She whispered, her voice didn't seem to get any louder, despite her trying.

"It was all a trick. Pitch had Baby Tooth and asked Jack for an offer; his staff for Baby Tooth. Well, Pitch is Pitch and wasn't honest. He snapped the staff in half, and threw the staff and Jack down some crevice in the ice. Baby Tooth was thrown down too, after she pecked him." Tooth was sitting on the floor, surrounded by her fellow Guardians.

"Staff is broken? Did not think was possible." North was the one to break the silence they had fallen into.

"Well he can't fly then, he's stuck where ever he is. We can find him." Bunny said, hoping the others would agree, assure him it was a good idea. None of them did.


	3. Chapter 3 - Sink or Swim

**Chapter Three**

 _ **Sink or Swim**_

Jack had been on the little island of ice and rock for about a week. Baby Tooth had disappeared for a few hours but had come back, as she promised she would. She explained she wanted to check on the Tooth Palace, it felt odd being away for so long. Jack had tried to tell her she could leave, it was okay, he understood. She had refused, turning away from him in the universal sign of _la, la la, not listening._ Jack was standing on his little outcropping of rock, staring out the ocean again. A noise came from behind him, and he spun to see what, or who, had found him. He stepped backwards without realising. The noise wasn't behind him at all, it had come from under him, which he realised too late. The rocky outcropping was attached to the island by a chunk of ice, which had groaned as it fell away from the island. Jack felt the rock below him give away, and felt himself plummet from where he had been standing.

He saw the water below him, and held his arms in front of his face, not really ready to be in the water. The water never came, Jack groaned as he fell onto a bed of ice. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, seeing the ice he had landed on. He looked around; he had landed on a sheet of ice in the middle of the ocean beneath where he had been. _Exactly underneath._ He thsought, something in his chest felt almost warm, and Jack knew if he needed to breathe, that his breath would have been caught in his throat. He heard a clatter behind him, and felt the wood of his staff touch against his foot. He looked at the wood, it had fallen from the island as well. Jack's eyes moved and saw the horizon, and saw that there was another crop of land that wasn't too far. He wondered to himself if he could swim it. He hovered a foot over the water, ready to step in, holding both ends of his staff tightly in his arms. As he lowered hs foot, it was greeted by a new patch of ice. Jack stared at the ice, and tried again. The water formed into a sheet of ice near his foot as he tried to step into the water.

Jack felt a surge of energy, and ran across the ice as it formed each time his foot neared the water. It took some time, a few hours, but Jack eventually made it to the other cropping of land. This was a proper piece of land, it was made up mostly of rock but Jack could see the green tips of grass on the very top of the cliff face. This cliff was almost all rock and was much easier for Jack to climb. Baby Tooth flew next to him, cheering him on as he climbed the wall, taking his time to avoid dropping the staff. Jack pulled himself up over the top of the cliff and sat on his knees, taking in the scenery. It was a rocky landscape, with small patches of soft green grass covering it. Snow covered other areas, sometimes mingling with the grass where the two met. There was a little house in the distance, and Jack decided that as the next goal. He walked slowly to the house, hoping it would be vacant. He had no need to hide from the snow and wind, he simply wanted somewhere he could hide, he did not want to be reminded of how he was invisible.

Sadly, Jack wasn't that lucky. As he came to the house he heard voice; an older woman and a young girl. The girl ran out of the front door, laughing as she did. She was young, with shoulder length brown hair and light brown eyes. The older woman was shouting after her, but simply smiled and shook her head. She walked back inside, letting the door swing shut on it's own. Jack sat near the door and rested his head against the wooden wall of the house; he wouldn't stay long.

That was Jack's plan, until he saw the little girl running back to the house later on. A bundle of fur was in her arms, and her eyes were red.

"Mama!" He heard her shout, and felt the house creak as the front door swung open.

"Mama!" The girl yelled again, rushing to her mother. She was cradling a small animal in her arms, and went inside with her mother. Jack ducked through the gap as the door swung shut, and looked around the home . it was small, but felt so incredibly homely that it made Jack smile. He watched them place the little bundle of fur onto a small brown couch and felt his chest leap. It was a tiny brown rabbit, with a small chunk of one of it's ears missing. The older woman had begun to tend to the small animal's wounds, while the younger girl sat down to eat a bowl of hot soup as she had been told to.

"Mama, what's that?" The girl asked, noticing a letter on the table. "Is it from Dad?"

The woman smiled, and nodded. "Yes dear, no but it's just as good. It's from the Easter Bunny."

"The Easter Bunny!?" The little girl was thrilled.

"Yes, I found it this morning. He's very sorry he missed easter, he couldn't get through the snow, so he made sure to let me know he would be visiting us a little later than usual. Tomorrow morning in fact!" The woman's smile was huge and bright, matching her daughter's. Jack stayed in the house that evening, curious what the woman was up to. Bunny didn't leave notes and he had missed them because of the attack on the warren. It was late when there was a knock on the door. The older woman opened it quietly, exchanging thanks with whoever it was. She placed a tiny white basket on the floor near the fireplace, and Jack saw what looked like dozens of gorgeous eggs in the basket. A few of them were ceramic, painted with a variety of bright colours. His favourites were the few eggs wrapped in bright foil; those ones would be chocolate. He watched as the woman used a botle of white powder to make large rabbit foot shapes on the grund, leading to and from one of the windows in the sitting area. Satisfied with her work, she made sure the fire would go for the night, checked the little bunny, and went to bed.

The little girl stumbled out of bed the next morning, rubbing her eyes when she saw the footprint on the floor. Her eyes followed them to the fireplace, where she saw the eggs.

"Mama, mama, he came!" She shouted, squealing as she looked over the eggs. The older woman came out of her room, rubbing her eyes, pretending she had just woken up. Jack knewshe had woekn earlier; she had checked on the eggs and the little rabbit earlier in the morning, and was unable to get back to sleep.

"Gosh aren't they pretty darling." The woman said, sitting on the couch near the girl. "I think those pretty foil ones are chocolate, the little ceramic ones are pretty as well."

"They look like something daddy would paint." She girl said, smiling.

"Oh you're right, they do don't they? Well it seems the easter bunny wanted to make sure you had a good easter then, he must've felt bad he was late."

"That's okay Mama, the snow was in the way, bunny's don't like snow." The girl's words made Jack laugh, before he could stop himself he was laughing with the little family. Thefamily spent the day enjoying some of the chocolate eggs, saving a few for when Dad would be visiting next, and checking that the little rabbit was warm near the fire. They had found a few little root vegetables and leaves it could eat near the house, in the wooded area. It was munching happily when Jack felt a sharp wind shake the house. The family had gone out, and Jack decided he would watch the house. He decided to find the famlily, in case the winds got too strong.

Jack found them near the cliff he had climbed up. His ice had disappeared once he was no longer touching it. The little girl was playing near the edge, when Jack felt a stronger wind than earlier, and heard the scream. He saw the little mess of brown disappear over the edge, and the older woman cruched over the edge, shouting. Jack raced to the edge, forgetting his staff was in two halves in the house, and threw himself over the edge. He fell, andmanaged to grab the little girl's leg, pulling her up just enough so he would hit the water ice formed underneath the two. Jack heard the little girl sobbing, and saw her staring in fear at the water that was lapping at the ice's edge. There was a splash nearby, and Jack saw her. The older woman grabbed the edge of the ice sheet and climbed on to the ice. Jack watched as she helped the smaller girl swim to the main island, and wrapped her large coat around the girl. She had left it on the edge, to keep it dry.

"No, no no no! You'll be too cold, it's not safe!" Jack was shouting as he watched the two climb up some loose stone steps and begin the walk back to the house. Only one was walking, the mother had scooped the young girl up and was carrying her to the house. Jack climbed back up the cliff, after having jumped from the ice sheet to the rocky shore. He stepped through the door; they had left it open. He made sure to close ot slowly, as if it was the wind. He could feel that the house was much warmer than it had been before. New logs were on the fire and thelittle girl was draped over the couch closest t it. Her wet clothes had been replaced by fresh dry ones. The little rabbit had been moved to a small pile of fabric with a quick _sorry_ from the older woman. The older woman sat on the floor next to the couch, watching her daughter through the night. It was a few hours later when the little girl spoke to her mother.

"Mama." Came the weak voice. "Do we have to say thank you?"

"To who sweetie?" The woman asked, her voice shaking.

"The old man who runs the sweet shop said that there used to be special spirits who controlled the weather. He said they used to give little presentsto the spirits before seasons to ask that the seasons weren't bad." The little girl explained this to her Mother, who nodded along.

"I don't see why not, what do you think winter spirits like?" The woman asked, stroking the little girls head. The young girl thought hard, then gave the most determined answer Jack had ever heard.

"Chocolate." She said, with a weak nod. The woman laughed, and asked the daughter to pick an egg from the little pile of easter eggs. It was a pretty one; pink foil with swirls of gold. The little girl went back to sleep by the fire, now holding the little rabbit that had hopped up to join her. Jack watched the older woman place thelittle chocolate egg, as well as one of the plainer ceramic ones on the outside window sill.

"My daughter said you like chocolate, I hope you do. The… the ceramic egg is one of my husband's, it's one of the plainer ones I'm sorry. The others were a special gift for my daughter. Thank you, for today." She said outloud, unaware the very person she was speaking to was nearby. Jack waited until she had gone to bed, curled up in the small armchair near the couch her daughter was on. He picked up the little ceramic egg and frozen when he saw the tiny pattern of frost swirls that covered it. He smiled and placed it back into the basket with the others; the pattern would disapear by the morning.

Jack rested against the window inside the house, and smiled, falling asleep in the slightly too warm house. Jack was startled awake by a banging on the noise and a child laughing outside. The older woman called out for whoever it was to come in and Jack was shocked to see familiar face rush into the house, and wrap his arms around the older woman.

"Hi Aunty!" Jamie said; his smile as bright as the young girl's had been the day before.


	4. Chapter 4 - New Routines, Old Habits

_Holy Moly I have followers! Thank you to everyone who has read, and decided to follow, this hap hazard little story I've been putting together!_

 **Chapter 4**

 _ **New Routines, Old Habits**_

Jamie's visit was short, but enjoyable. It took a little while but Jack had managed to figure out the family. The older woman was Jamie's aunt, and the young girl was his cousin. Jamie was dropped off to visit for a few days, while his parents travelled nearby to visit someone else. The little rabbit was now curled up on Jamie's lap. Jack watched on as the two kids caught up with one another; it wasn't often they got to see each other. The girl's family lived here since her Dad worked for a company nearby. The Mother did work on her computer, writing stories. Jack had tried to read over her shoulder, but found the stories were rather boring, just lots of large words he didn't care to learn. It was helpful for Jack as well, he was able to catch up on Jamie's life. He had lost a tooth recently, and thought he might have broken his arm playing hockey but was lucky it was just a sprain. The weather outside wasn't the best for playing outside so the two kids played in the house; they had board games, and lots of books, as well as some card games Jamie had brought along. Jack enjoyed the last day of Jamie's visit the most, the children were able to go into town.

An older man drove a truck out to the little house and picked the kids up, leaving the mother home. Jack thought she must be happy to have some time to herself, the two kids were a handful. He followed the children about the town, enjoying the time the two spent together. He had grown closer to the girl and her mother, in his own way and much like the child people seemed to forget he still was; he had allowed himself to think they felt the same way. The young girl was called Olivia, the mother's name was Victoria, and they had decided on the name Hoppers for the little bunny. It was in the little diner in town, that Jack felt his heart ache. Jamie and Olivia were enjoying a hot chocolate each while watching TV in the diner. Jack was seated at an empty booth nearby. He had stretched himself over one of the seats, his feet resting on the table. He was watching the news as well, enjoying how quiet and relaxed the diner was, when the top news story started.

"In a tragic accident earlier today, an elderly couple and their grand daughter have been airlifted to a hospital after their car swerved off of the road. The suspected cause of the accident was a patch of ice in the road, though the cause is not official as of yet." Jack was looking outside, looking at the road han ran outside the diner, and out of town. He tuned out the reporter on the TV, and left the diner. He felt the road beneath his feet; it was cold but grainy, covered in salt, a precaution the people had to take because of the ice; because of _him_. Fear was crushing Jack's chest and it wasn't until he watched the two kids arrive back at the house, that he finally felt it was okay to leave. Jack watched them go inside the little house, and saw the door shut. He knew the house would be warm during the night and felt comfortable leaving the children there, they would be safe. What Jack wasn't comfortable with was the feeling in his stomach; an emptiness that had recently been hollowed out again.

Jack could not fly, he could not be picked up by the wind carried away anymore, so he walked, wanting to create distance between him and this small family he had decided he was a part of. He walked for an hour or so, away from the house when he realised his hands were empty. The two halves of his staff were still in the house. Jack looked back at the direction he had come. He had to decide what to do; keep walking and leave the staff, or walk back to collect it. Jack compromised to himself. He made the walk back a quick one and luckily the house was dark; the children were asleep so the pain in his stomach wouldn't become worse seeing them play. He collected his staff, waved at Hoppers, and left the house again. He was quick, to keep himself from thinking about all of the time he'd spent there. Time he had enjoyed.

He didn't wander far. Jack spent his time exploring the town, and the surrounding areas, then would visit the house every few days. It was a comfortable routine he found himself in, and he began to enjoy his walks through the town. He wished he could bring stuff back to the family; he wished he could bring them whatever they'd like. A nice bed for Hoppers, all of her own. He'd get a nice chair for Victoria to use when she was reading, or working on her laptop. He wasn't sure what to get for Olivia. She wasn't a sporty kid like Jamie; she enjoyed dolls, and board games. Jack was walking through town when he saw a little clothing shop out of the corner of his eye. It was a cute little store; it was almost all white, with tiny triagnles of fabric on a string that hung upside down across the window. The little triangles of fabric matched the colours in the display window; darker coloura like navy, and deep greens and browns. Jack a little jacket in the corner. It was a smaller jacket, made of a bright purple fabric, with white fur on the edges of the hood. Jack leant against the window, staring at the little jacket; it was the perfect size for Olivia. That's what he'd get her, a nice new coat so she'd feel safe outside in the cold. Her fall had shaken her, she was hesitant to go outside, and Jack knew she had been thankful that the poor weather had been there as an excuse.

He hated the idea that she was frightened of going outside; he hadn't figure dit out if it was the cold, the ice or simply being near where it had happened that frightened him. Jack shut his eyes tight, holding back tears. He felt so helpless; he had been chosen, hadn't he? The Man in the Moon had chosen him to help protect children, and he was doing a poor job of it. Jack shook his head, the Man in the Moon had made a mistake; everyone did time to time. Jack turned away from the window, and continued his walk through town. It wasn't a large town and jack could easily walk from one end to the other in a half hour or so, less if he didn't dawdle. It was a brilliantly sunny day, which had brought more children outside than he usually saw in the little town. While Jack would usually jump into the fun, despite being unseen, he simply didn't feel like it today. The winter spirit left town, walked through the woods for a short time, before heading back in the direction of the little wooden house.

He knew deep down he was not a part of their little family, how could he be, nobody could even see him. He ignored that part of him, and didn't allow it to sink into his head, though it was difficult some days. Jack sat by the front door and looked up the sky, noticing how truly bright the stars wre out here. Jack realised he hadn't a clue how long he had been at that house for, how long since it had been since the fight in the Warren. He desperately wanted the Guardians to know what happened but another part of him, a louder part, was mad that they had believed so easily that he had betrayed them. Had they betrayed him them? Jack shook his head, he wasn't sure what to think. He was tired of these thoughts nagging at him; he wasn't sure what he had to do to make them just _stop_.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Possible Outcome

**Chapter 5**

 _ **A Possible Outcome**_

The four Guardians had exhausted all possible options in finding the little winter spirit, and had all but given up. Sandy was the one left hopeful, he just knew they could find Jack eventually. They had all gathered at Jack's pond, hopeful that it would finally give them some answers, or even that Jack would simply be there, waiting. They weren't sure why they hadn't thought to check there first, it was Tooth who had the idea to check the pond, with some suggestions from Baby Tooth. It was close to midnight and the forest was brighter than normal; it was a full moon. The bright moon sat overhead, staring down at them, and the Guardians felt as if it was staring. They had all thought that the Man in the Moon had made a mistake about Jack, when it was them who had misjudged him so harshly.

"Did you ever think, what happened?" The voice came from the shadows, smooth and dangerous. The Guardians stiffened but didn't prepare to fight; somewhere like this would be the perfect place for a fight with Pitch. They wouldn't let it happen.

"With the boy, I mean, did you never once stop and think about exactly where he came from?" They saw Pitch's shape on the floor, stretching out towards them but it was only a shape, Pitch hmself was hiding.

"Of course you didn't." The words came out as a hiss. "You were too busy helping the children! Much too busy to help a _child._ A child who, need I remind you; has no family, has nobody in this life. The poor boy has been alone for _three hundred years._ He is given such good news! He is to be a Guardian, to be given friends and a family, believers even! Well, didn't that turn out _swell."_

North's face changed; his eyes lost some of their sparkle, his mouth dipped when he had the thought.

"Remind you of anyone?" The words were followed by a laugh, and the saw the shape retreat back into the other mass of shadows, that were sitting beneath a cluster of trees, where the moon's light couldn't reach them. The Guardians relaxed, and turned to North as he spoke.

"Pitch." He said, and the others nodded. Of course they knew who had been speaking. "No, no." He continued on. "Pitch also very lonely, how lonely was Jack?"

Tooth nodded. "Three hundreds is a long time, North, but Pitch was alone for much longer, by his _own_ doing." Her response got a shake of North's head in return.

"Is not point. Jack is strong. Must be, to control winter." The others nodded at North's words; it was true. Many spirits had been chosen to control winter, but it is possible for a spirit's element to overpower them. Many had been crushed by their own snow fall, or been swept away by the winds they had created. It was not a simple season. It was a season that had to be balanced carefully, so when they realised just how young Jack was, they had all been a little confused.

"Does the little blight think that though?" Bunny was speaking now. "What?" The others were looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Think about it; he was alone, yes, but more so than that, he was left alone by the only person who spoke to him in that time. He likely never got told just how careful he would have to be. As much as we seem to forget it, he is still a child. What if he gets too upset, or angry, or hurt? Blimey, who knows what could happen. Kid wouldn't even mean any of it if it happened." Tooth nodded, as did North, Sandy was looking at the Moon with a frown. Bunny was right, Sandy thought. The Man in the Moon had chosen Jack, then simply left him to be on his own; leaving a child on his own for minutes can have disastourous results, that he had seen time and time again. Leaving one alone for years? Three hundred years with nobody there to help him, or to guide him. Sandy turned his frown to Bunny, and a number of rather rude images popped up from his sand.

"Sandy!" Tooth was rather taken aback.

"I'm just saying! What if Pitch gets in his head?"

"No, Pitch was bad long time before we met him." North had joint back into the conversation.

"H-He couldn't do much, anyway, Bunny." Toothiana's words were soft, she sounded upset.

"Why's that Tooth?"

"His staff is broken, we've all seen how he uses it. It might be the source of his power, it might not. At the very least it's a conduit of some sort. He… gosh what if he can't fix it?"

They fell into a silence, and Sandy left, it had gotten too late and the children needed to sleep. They bid the small man a sad farewell, and each Guardian returned to their home. It was North who looked at the calender and realised just how close Christmas truly was; 3 weeks to go. Jack had been missing since Easter. It hadn't felt quite so long, but now the time was really settling in, and just how hurt North was due to it. He had liked the child; though he was apprehensive about his Guardianship at the beginning. The winter spirit had grown on North, and he was marvelled at just how truly chidlike he was, despite everything he had gone through. Just how much he had gone through, North couldn't say for sure, none of them knew Jack before he was Jack Frost. North decided then and there, he had a new gift to make, and not much time to make it.

The others were busy in their own areas, all of them trying to get jack out of their minds; each of them worrying over what Bunny had said, could Jack be driven to Pitch's side? He had said no, and it had caused him to lose his staff. What if Pitch could offer to fix it, or even a whole new one?

They let themselves focus on their work, the worry nagging at the back of their minds. Sandy was busy, casting dreams out to the sleeping children; his thin ribbons of sand searched the world, hoping to find the young white haired boy, but they couldn't seem to grasp him.

The weeks before Christma flew by quickly, and before he knew it, North doing the Christmas Eve deliveries. He only had a few houses left, on a little island. The cold wind rocked his sleigh but he pulled through and landed outside the house. North entered the house slowly through the front door. North was silent as he piled the presents underneath the small tree in the living room. The fireplace was incredibly warm; he loved the smell of a real fireplace. North noticed the little rabbit asleep on a cushion next to the fireplace and let out a soft chuckle.

"Hello small friend, you remind me of someone. Haha, you look much easier to get along with; perhaps you will be next easter bunny. Do not tell him I said!" North laughed at himself,and heard the door behind him open. North cursed himself, he must not have closed it properly behind him. He heard movement and turned to see what it was, and was greeted by the sharp end of a wooden stick pointing to his face. The house had grown colder, and North noticed the frost that had grown thicker on the windows. The light from the moon outside lit up the white hair of the small boy, while the light from the fire lit up his face. North looked into the eyes of Jack Frost, and couldn't believe what, or who, he was seeing. Jack's face changed from one of anger to simple shocked fear.

"Jack?" North asked, and the response he got was not what he expected, nor wanted.

"Oh no, no no _no."_ Jacked whispered, a plea. Jack stepped backwards out of the front door, avoiding North's hand as it reached out, and turned. North watched the small boy dart back out into the snowy night.

"Jack!" North yelled, following after the boy. The staff was still broken, North had seen that the other half was in Jack's other hand when he had been pointing it at him. Why had he done this? What was he doing here? North made chase to the boy as he ran across the snow outsid the outside, and North saw where he was headed; the woods. Even without his staff, jack was far more acrobatic than North, and would easily be able to avoid the older Guardian. This was confirmed with north when he watched Jack in the distance easily push himself up, leaping towards the branch of a close by tree. North reacted quickly by throwing a snow globe towads the tree, aiming it for the trunk behind Jack. Jack turned as he fell towards to the branch, and took aim with the straight end of his staff. The boy seemed to move in slow motion as he swung outward, and sent the end of the half of his staff into the snow globe. Instead of becoming a mess of purple as the snow globe became a portal, it shattered. The snow globe shattered into a cloud of glass of blue and white dust. North saw the look on Jack's face as he was swallowed by the cloud, and gave a yell as the dust seemed to swallow him.

North had stopped running, and simply watched as the dust cloud faded and left nothing where it had been, including Jack Frost. North's eyes were already wide, and grew wider as he realised what had happened.

"Burgess." He said loudly, and shouted for his reindeers and sleigh. The journey back to the pole was much longer than he wanted.


	6. Chapter 6 - Home Sweet Home

_Thank you to everyone who is following the story, and those who have left reviews! I'm enjoying the writing, and have some other things in mind. I think it's time Jack got to himself again, so we'll see what comes next!_

 **Chapter 6**

 _ **Home Sweet Home**_

Jack coughed on the dust as it swarmed him; exploding outwards from the tiny glass globe. He had meant to just swat it away from him, so he could continue to run and hide. He felt the glass against his skin but it didn't cut, it simply rolledalong his skin and fell to the ground. Jack closed his eyes as the dust seemed to cling to him, and he feared he would choke on it. When Jack opened his eyes, he was standing somewhere new; though it felt incredibly familiar to him. He looked around him, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the darker area. The moon didn't seem as bright here, which Jack was thankful for. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he stepped forward, and heard the crack underneath him. He looked down to see the icey water he was standing on and gasped; his pond. He saw himself reflected in the icey surface and couldn't belive it, he was _home._ It was the sound in the distance that caught his attention, like a rustling overhead. Jack expected a flock of birds, or even bats to fly overhead, but instead he saw the bright wisps of dream sand peak over the tops of the trees. _Oh dear._ Jack thought, knowing that Sandy wasn't far away. He couldn't stay here.

It was decided and with it, Jack ran. He sprinted away from his pond, making his way through the dense trees of the wooded area close to Burgess. He hadn't picked a direction, so when he broke from the trees and found himself looking at the town of Burgess, he choked on his breath. Jack walked slowly into the town, though he wasn't sure why. It felt wrong to run through the town, he had regarded it as somewhere safe, somewhere he could play. Jack hear dit again and looked up, to see a whip of dream sand heading towards him. Jack swept his staff, one half of it anyway, and cut through the whip. It broke apart as it sailed past him, grains of Sand brushing against his arms. They were golden, bright and so beautiful in the night that was darker than he had been used to. The whinny came from behind him, and Jack turn where he stood to see the nightmare that had followed him from the woods, and was rearing down towards him. Jack fell and landed on the ground, staring up at the creature that threatened to crush him.

"Jack!" The voice came from behind him, and Jack recognised the soft lady's voice; Tooth. Jack thrust the sharpened of his staff upwards and hunch on himself, bracing for the horrot hat was to follow the nightmare reaching him. The nightmare crashed itself down onto the staff, and stopped once it reached the wooden tip. It thrashed, unable to remove the staff from it's chest, and Jack saw as the black sand became a bright blue, as the frost raced up from the wood and into the creature. It cried out as the ice took over and soon the creature was made up of brilliantly blue sand. The creature stopped moving and it's noises stopped; it then exploded. The creature exploded into a cloud of white and blue sand that fell against the ground, and Jack. The sand fell into his hair, and clung to his clothing. He didn't move; Jack didn't dare move, in fear the creature would reappear.

"How'd the blighta do that?!" the cry came from behind him; _Bunny._ That got Jack moving. He sprung to his feet and spun to see Tooth and Bunny standing nearby behind him, North even closer. North had a sword in each hand, though they were hanging by his sides now. Jack was surprised to see a sword in one of Toothiana's hands as well; it was thin, with a sharp curve in the blade.

"Been a long time since you last held that aye Toothy." Bunny said with a smirk at Toothiana as he put away his boomerang. Bunny looked at Jack, and they locked eyes for a second; jack broke it, looking at the ground.

"Jack, you came back!" Toothiana said with a smile. Gosh jack had missed it; it was so incredibly kind.

"Not on purpose." He said, his voice soft, on edge.

"What do ya mean mate; Northy said you disappeared and he rushed here and got us all along." Bunny said.

North nodded, smiling. "Jack! Is good to see yo-"

Jack was stepping backwards, ready to run. He was eyeing Toothiana, who was still holding her sword high, as if he was unsure if it was safe or not.

"Blimey Sheila put it away; kid's never seen it before." Bunny said to Tooth, who nodded, and placed the sword on her back. She smiled softly, apologising through expression alone. Jack felt something rub his neck, and he rbushed it away, realksing as he did he should have moved away. The string of dream sand looped his ankle and swept him upwards. Jack felt himself fly up until he was staring at Sandy, upside down. Sandy waved energetically at jack, smiling wide. Jack let out a soft chuckle at Sandy and smiled back weakly.

"Hey Sandy." Sandy beamed at Jack's words and put the boy back on the ground, right way up. Jack brush himself off and stood straight, picking up the two halves of his staff from the ground where he had dropped them.

"No luck fixing it mate?"

"Haven't tried." Jack said, not looking at Bunny.

"Baby Tooth... she told us." Toothiana said, quietly from behind Bunny. Jack looked at her, eyes wide, unable to force his legs to _run._ He so badly wanted to be away from them, he had expected anger, he had prepared himself for it for so long. The anger boiled inside Jack, he had held it for so long. It had hurt so badly, he had never betreayed them, and they had gotten rid of him so easily.

"So?" Jack asked, looking at Tooth.

"We- we are so-"

"Sorry?"

"Yes! Jack, so, so sorry. We never meant to-"

'Yes, you did. At the time that's exactly what you meant to do. _You wanted me gone."_ Jack was surprised he could speak, he wanted to scream at them.

"Mate we didn't know."

"You didn't ask!" Jack shouted, feeling the anger boil over. It hurt his throat, it hurt his head but it felt so good to finally let it out. "You told me to go, you didn't let me even speak! The only one of you who even cared was Baby Tooth!" Bunny and Toothiana stared at Jack, it was North and Sandy who moved a little closer.

"He made a mistake!" jack shouted and with that, felt the anger melt away. He stared at the ground, his shoulders trembling as he held in the tears.

'Why at little house?" North asked, standing close to Jack but not wanting to frighten him off by reaching out.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Little house I find you; you point very sharp wood at old man." North said, chuckling. Bunny's ears stood on end.

"I didn't know it was you. I didn't realise what day it was, and thought someone had broken in." Jack's answer stunned North.

"Not know what day?!" North was aghast; Jack loved Christmas! North eye's lit up, and he pulled a msaller sack than normal from his back. Jack stepped back; the sack looked awfully familar. North pulled out a long wrapped gift, it was skinny, with a hook at the top. Jack blinked; in awe and confusion.

"Is magic bag!" North laughed, holding the wrapped gift out to Jack. Jack took it and stepped back again, not sure how he felt about being close to North.

"Uhh..." jack wasn't sure what to say.

"Is Christmas gift!" North beamed.

The gift was shaking in Jack's hands, and he checked, it wasn't his own hands doing it. The gift seemed to vibrate, as if it was excited. He pulled the paper away to see what seemed like an exact replica of his own staff. Jack stared at the staff in his hands, and looked at his older staff on the floor.

"We all have old things Jack, we mount on wall; do same for staff." North said, smiling.

"I don't have a wall North, I have a little ice pond. I don't have a home." Jack said, it was true in a sense; he didn't have a physical strcture like the others.

"North Pole!" North shouted, clapping Jack on the shoulder. Jack looked at the smile on the older Guardians face, and started to laugh. It was a bright, childlike laugh. North carefully picked up the pieces of the broken staff, and placed them in the bag. He dropped it through a portal, and Jack heard a noise as a yeti caught the bag. There was a grumble, as the portal closed. North shook his head.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Phil very mad at Guardians." North explained. "Not happy we got rid of cold one."

Jack was shocked; he was sure Phil of all people, er yetis, would be simply shaking with joy at his absence. Something crept along Jack's skin, up his legs and crept through the fabric of his clothing. It was cold, and wet and so familiar. The wind had found him again, and wanted to play. Jack held the new staff above his head, and let out a joyful shriek as the wind wind him from his feet, off into the air, and away from the Guardians. They heard the laughter grow quieter as the boy flew further from them.

"Jack!" Tooth shoute; they had only just found him again.

"Give time; has not been able to fly for long time." North said, patting her shoulder. They made their ways home, and North set to work on some projects in mind.


	7. Chapter 7 - Somewhere to Stay

**Chapter 7**

 _ **Somewhere To Stay**_

It had been such a long time since Jack had flown, and he savoured every second of it, as he threw himself around in the sky above Burgess. He watched Jamie and his friends, they had gotten new sleds for Christmas, and were busy piling snow to make the perfect ramp. Snow hadn't fallen quite hard enough the night before, so it was difficult to pick up snow without picking up dirt and gravel as well. The children shrugged and played on the small pile they had managed to build up. Maybe ten minutes later, snow began to fall overhead, and pattered down onto the ground gently. Jack sat on top of a small fountain nearby, and watched the children's smiles broaden as they noticed the new snow. Jack stood up and scooped up a handful of freshly fallen snow. It rolled itself into a ball as Jack raised his hand and let the snowball fly; hitting the back of a larger girl's head. The girl spun around, and looked at the others. They shook their heads, worried what was coming but, like last time, she began throwing snowballs with a grin on her face. It didn't take long for the snowball fight to become a full war, with other children joining in, some Jack didn't recognise. Jack floated above the fighting children, his face spread into a wide smile, and he laughed. It felt so good to laugh, and to see the children play. Jack watched the fight for a little longer, then threw himself into the wind and shot off from Burgess, following the wind to where he wanted to go.

The wind liked the little family Jack had found, and eagerly carried him to the small house on the island. The wind dropped Jack off outside the house, where the family was playing. The young girl was playing in the snow, while her Mother and a man sat on a wooden bench outside the home. Jack's eyes widened when he saw that the adults were holding hands; the Dad! Jack leant against the house, next to the bench, and watched on. The girl was busy making a snow bunny, obviously trying to recreate Hoppers. She was bundled up in full gear for the weather and the site of it made jack's heart flutter; she was wearing a little beanie, earmuffs and some gloves. What caught Jack's eye was the bright purple coat she was wearing. It fit her perfectly, and Jack could tell she was incredibly warm in it. The wooden house was warm against Jack's back, and he smiled at the sensation. It had been almost two weeks since Christmas and he had missed them, but gosh flying again was fun. He had taken off almost instantly after North had given him the new staff. It may not have been a good idea to run off immediately but the wind had been calling to him for so long and he was finally able to answer it. Jack left the family, satisfied they were well, and flew off again. He threw himself high and higher, laughing as the wind caught him each time. He threw himself through clouds and flew alongside a flock of birds that had no idea he was there. The wind dropped Jack, making sure to ease his fall as he dropped into the open skylight in the roof of the North Pole. The drop had taken Jack by surprise; he ahd meant to fly overhead, to see what was happening. Jack landed on his feet, turning at the last second, and caught his staff in his hands. The warmth of the large building was the first thing that Jack noticed; the smell of sweets and paint was nest. Jack loved being in the North Pole, he had tried to break in for a long time, now he was welcomed. He hoped so, anyway, it was too late now.

Jack turned where he stood, taking in just how beautiful the North Pole was, when he noticed Phil walking towards him. It was too late now to run, Phil had seen him, and was quickly moving towards Jack. Jack wasn't expecting Phil to pick him up in a hug, and he certainly wasn't expecting a laugh from North as the older Guardian walked into the room. Phil put Jack back onto the floor and walked away, ruffling the boy's white hair as he walked by. Jack ran a hand through his own hair, laughing at the yeti. Perhaps Phil had missed him after all.

"Jack!" North shouted excitedly, placing a hand onto Jack's shoulder. 'Is good to see!"

"Y-yeah, sorry for running off."Jack was unsure how to feel about North' hand; he didn't dislike it, but didn't feel he deserved the friendly touch.

"Is okay! Bunny worry you upset but I told Bunny you want to fly!" North raised his hands high above his head, as if to show Jack flying. He looked at Jack holding the staff, and smiled even wider.

"Ah, you like staff? Is good!"

"Yeah it feels…different bu-"

"Different, why so?"

"Good different!" Jack was quick to assure North. "It just feels… heavier? I can't explain it, my other staff virtually had no weight to it. This one actually has a feel to it, I can feel the teture of the wood. It's strange." Jack had noticed straight away the difference in his staffs; he loved his original, and would never getrid of it but this one just felt…different, in a nice way.

"What's he doing here?!" Bunny shouted from behind North, hand held open towards Jack. Jack shrunk back.

"He dropping by!" North said, laughing at his own joke; he had seen Jack fall in. Bunny shook his head and walked off with a huff and a flick of his ears. North chuckled and followed after Bunny, heading down a hallway that Jack had only seen once or twice. It lead to North's bedroom; he didn't know if it went anywhere else.

"All guardians have somewhere to stay at North Pole; even if not use it." North explained, pointing to the other doors in the hall. Each one was a darkly polished wood, with a small name plaque in the center. There was Tooth's, with her name carved into the tooth shaped plaque, and Bunny's; who had a carrot plaque instead. Sandy's was a cloud, but the letters of his name had been filled with a golden paint. Jack smiled weakly at the doors, then saw that North had stopped into front of one near the end of the hallway.

"Why don't they sta-" Jack's words were cut off, not by North, but by him choking on his breath when he saw the door North had stopped at. The door matched the others, but looked newer. It had a silver doorknob, and in the centre of the door was a newly made plaque. It was a snowflake that had been carved from a sheet of white wood. Jack's name had been carved into the centreof the snowflake, and had been filled with blue glittering paint. It was the same blue as his hood.

"All Guardians _now_ have a place to stay; Bunny only just did finishing touches, was worried you had already seen it. You have newest room; hope you like." North said, patting Jack on the shoulder, walking back down where they had come from. Jack's hands shook as he twisted the knob and opened the door. He stepped into the room and his eyes widened; he stared in awe at the room in front of him. The room wasn't large, but it was a decent size, so Jack wouldn't feel cramped. The floor was a brilliantly dark polished wood and the walls had been covered in wallpaper. The wallpaper was a brilliant sdark blue at the top, which faded into a soft white; silver stars dotted the dark blue around the room, and spread onto the ceiling which matched the blue of the wallpaper. There was a fireplace roaring in the corner; Jack loved the look of fireplaces, but the heat made him uncortmable. The room was still cold, the fireplace gave off no heat, instead serving as an aesthetic piece. There was a chest of drawers in one corner of the room; made from the same white wood as the plaque, and a bed sat in the opposite corner, to the left of the door. The bed was larger than a single, but didn't dominate the room. It was made from the same white wood, with details of silver metal added to the frame. Jack rested his new staff against the bed,and smiled at how at home it looked. He took in the rest of the room, and saw it, hanging above the place. The two ends had been mounted, crossing one another like a pair of swords, sitting on a set of silver hooks. Jack stood in front of the fireplace and stared at his old staff, which looked down at him.

'I'm sorry." He whispered, unsure why he had said the words.

"What for mate?' Bunny asked from the doorway.

Jack spun to face Bunny; wishing he was holding his staff. He was still expecting a fight from Bunny.

"You didn't break it; why're you apologisin'?" Bunny continued, leaning against the door frame. Jack turned away, looking at his old staff again. He shrugged; he didn't have an answer for Bunny.

"Mate we, we can't fix it." Bunny said, his voice wavering. "What happened I mean. We can't take it back. As much as I'd love to take back what I said, it'd be wrong. That is truly, at the time, what I felt. We all did. Saying sorry won't fix it but, we'll do better from now on." Bunny turned to hop away, not wanting to bother the kid anymore than he had to, when he heard him speak.

"What did you do, in the room?" Jack hadn't turned around yet.

"North built it all, I painted and Tooth did something with the bed I think, she was being a bit secretive, even for her." Bunny said, then left. He didn't see Jack's smile as he shut the door, or as he laid down in his bed. _His bed._ His brand new, just for him bed. Jack pulled the covers over himself as he relaxing into the soft mattress. It was all brilliantly soft; the only issue was the pillow. Jack tried but if Toothiana asked, he'd have to lie about how comofrtable the pillow was. He tossedand turned, but something beneath the, what should be truly very soft pillow, dug into his head. Jack finally sat up beneath his blanket and pulled the pillow up, desperate to know what was wrong with it. The golden box stared a him from the white covers, and he gasped. Jack picked the memory box up with shaking hands and laid back down in the bed. The pillow truly was soft; everything in the bed, in the room, was perfect for him. Jack held the memory box to his chest, cradling it tightly in both arms, and fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8 - Sleepless in the North Pole

_Thank you to everyone for the reviews! A special thank you to sparklehannah for the constant lovely feedback! I'm glad you seem to be enjoying the story, please feel free to send any ideas to me if you think of something you'd like to see!_

 **Chapter 8**

 **Sleepless in the North Pole**

Jack didn't sleep often, and when he did, it usually a calm sleep. He was still a child, so the dream sand that Sandy let loose every night worked wonders on him. This night was different to the others where Jack had slept. He tossed and turned in the bed, unable to properly fall asleep. Jack gave a groan and threw his covers away, climbing out of the bed. It was late, jack guessed close to midnight but he simply couldn't sleep. He wasn't sure if he was simply too worked up, or if the room had just overwhelmed him. Jack left the room, deciding against taking his staff with him. It was the North Pole; he didn't imagine he'd really need it for anything. He had never explored the building so late and wasn't sure who would even be awake. Jack headed out of the hallway of bedrooms, and made his way to the main area of the building. He looked up at the large glass dome that made up the marjority of the roof; it was breathtaking. The sky was clear, allowing the stars to shine down onto the building. The moon was there as well, helping the stars to light up the night sky. Jack stared at the sky, smiling at it, he knewexactly what it felt like to be up in the air. Not quite as high as the stars and the moon, but he had flown through dozens of clouds, and flown alongside hundreds of birds as they made their way across the sky, not noticing the white haired boy floating alongside them.

A noise caught his attention, pulling him away from the glass dome and the night sky, and he turned to the globe. The globe was spinning slowly; it was making an odd noise. The large globe was groaning as it turned, as if the structure was suddenly too heavy for it's metal holdings. The globe stopped with a louder groan, and Jack stared as the lights began to flicker. The globe flickered madly, lighting and turning off the lights of the children. Jack shouted out for North but the man didn't shout back, nobody seemed to hear Jack. He shouted again; North, Phil, Bunny, Tooth, _anyone._ Jack was frightened; what was happening? Would they think he had done it?

The globe gave another loud groan, then shook, sending a shudder through the ground. Jack watched as the globe seemed to crack, and split open. Black sand spilled out from the globe, beginning to fill the room, and spreading towards Jack. He felt the sand pool around his feet, climbing higher and higher up his legs. He cursed himself for not bringing his staff, he couldn't pull his way out.

"What did you do!?" North shouted from behind Jack; Jack couldn't respond. As he opened his mouth to defend himself, he felt his sand flood into his mouth, and he felt his air stop, and soon his eyes were drooping shut. He fought against the sand but eventually he lost his strength and soon fell limp amongst the pool of sand.

Jack coughed and fought against what was holding hom down, frightened of the sand getting to his mouth again. The blankets flew off the bed and landed onto the floor beside the bed. The light from the moon and stars lit the room up, casting a soft light against the floor and wall. The stars apinted on the ceiling and wallsglittered in the soft light. Jack was breathing rapidly, and looked around the room as he ran a hand through his hair, attempting to calm himself.

"North Pole, in North Pole." Jack whispered to himself, remding himself of where he was. He had a moment of panic at the bedroom before remembering where he was. Jack opened the window above his bed to let some of the colder air into the room; it was an instant effect on his mood. The cold calmed him, and he felt the wind brush against him, sensing something was wrong. It was earlier in the morning, and while the moon and stars were still out, it wouldn't be long before they disappeared as the sun took over for the day. He slowly climbed off the bed, and placed his blankets back onto the bed, carefully laying them flat and neat as he had seen before. A shout came from outside the room, from close by. Jack left the room and followed the noise to the study, where he found North and Bunny playing a game of chess.

"No good, too cold, old cheater!" Bunny shouted as north chuckled, seeing Jack come into the room.

"Ahh good morning Jack!" North said, waving at the boy, then began to help Bunny pack up the game pieces. Bunny was grumbling at the pieces, until they were neatly packed away. He turned to jack, to properly greet him, but stopped.

"You right frosty?"Bunny asked.

Jack had draped himself over one of the couches in the study.

"Right as snow, kangaroo, why do you ask?" Jack replied, smiling.

"You look… well, I didn't know spirits could look tired but, you do."

Jack's smile fell, and he rubbed his face with his hands, shaking his head.

"No I- I just had a bad dream is all." Jack admitted, it felt weird to say. He rarely had normal dreams as it was. A side effect of not sleeping very often. It had been some time since Jack had slept; back in the little house on the island.

"Anything in particular about the dream that's bothering you?" Bunny sat on one of North's large armchairs; it was one of the few chairs that wasn't comically small when Bunny sat on it. Jack thought, staring at the ceiling. His ceiling was much nicer, he thought to himself.

"I thought the dream sand worked on me." Jack said outloud.

"Ah mate, Sandy had a tough night last night, it's possible there wasn't sand to spare." Bunny said, taking a cup of tea from North, who also sat down in a chair of his own.

"What happened?" Jack asked, nervous.

"It's summer in Australia at the moment, bloody damn hot and dry in some places. Got too much; bushfire started. Nobody was hurt but it almost cut off one of the smaller towns. Lotsa kids panicing so Sandy went down to do damage control for the little blighters." Bunny explained, sipping the warm tea.

"A bushfire?" Jack asked; he had heard the word before, but couldn't picture it.

"Imagine the forest near Jamie's, right?" Jack nodded, picturing the large expanse of woods. "Now imagine it, without any snow, in summer. Now picture the entire thing just going up in fire, bordering just too close to town to be safe." Jack swallowed, forcing himself not to worry. There was no fire near Burgess, nor near Jamie. Jack shook his head.

"They aren't all bad, it's when they get out of control you gottabe careful. The humans'll do controlled burns sometimes, there's certain plants that only grow after bushfire, and if they burn off some of the drier stuff before it's too hot, there's less chance of a huge fire."

Jack sat up on the couch, rubbing his eyes. He was thankful Bunny had explained the last part; he was glad that they tried to prevent the fires from happening. He wasn't a fan of fire, much too hot for his taste. He thanked North and Bunny, then headed back to his room, he would try and sleep again.

"You did not tell everything." North pointed out to Bunny once Jack had left.

"Blight doesn't need to know a kid started the fire; it was an accident." Bunny said, continuing to sip his tea.


	9. Chapter 9 - Some New Friends

**Chapter 9**

 _ **Some New Friends**_

As much as Jack wanted to sleep, he couldn't. He wanted to enjoy a rest in his own bed, in his own room in the North Pole but he couldn't seem to slip past the verge of droopy eyes. He had been tempted to ask Sandy for some help but decided against it; it wasn't the type of sleep he wanted. Dream sand gave a strong sleep to the receiver, a strong desire to fall asleep and ejoy hours of pleasant dreams, but it wasn't as energising as a regular sleep. It was a sleep that left you excited when you woke up, but was often draining in other ways. Jack wanted a sleep he fell into on his own, where he could slumber for hours on end without dreams, just letting his mind siftt rhough what had happened in the day. Jack spent that day playing with his new staff; truly testing it.

The other Gardians knew how strong Jack must be, though they had no idea how truly great his powers really were; either did Jack. Jack had been playing outside in the snow that surrounded the North pole, and finally decided to call it a day, and headed back inside. Jack dropped in through his skylight, and saw a group of people below him, many he didn't recognise. The Guardians were with them, and Jack didn't feel that he should interrupt. He pulled himself up onto a wooden beam overhead, and decided listening wasn't quite the same as interrupting, so he settled in to see what was happening.

"He's a kid, leave him be." Said a tall man with dark hair and an angular face. His long hair was pulled into a ponytail.

"He's a danger!'Shouted a short woman; she had blonde hair that was piled high on her head, a single pink rose sat amongst the tangles of hair.

"As I said; he's a kid! What's he gonna do?"

"That's the problem, we don't know! Oh for goodness sake, what are you _doing?"_ The woman turned and pointed the question at a young lady who was looking at the globe; she was fair skinned with pale blonde hair.

"Trying to ignore you." The girl replied, not turning away from the globe.

"I suppose it's all good for you then! After all, when he messes up, it'll be more work for you!" The woman shouted, glaring at the woman. Bunny moved as if he was ready to strike the woman, but didn't need to.

"Hey now that-" The ponytail man tried but, the young woman turned and faced the shorter woman.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked, staring the short woman in the eyes.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Yes, but I want you to explain it. Outloud." As she spoke, a whistle came through the sirens above the globe, and Jack could just see one of the lights become a white glow rather than it's usual yellow. Jack was trembling, he had a feeling he knew who they were talking about. Jack didn't notice that the wind outside had picked up.

"You haven't even met the blighter, don't come in here and start shouting nonsense." Bunny said, his voice stern.

"I do not _need_ to meet him. He is a child, and should not have been given the job he has. The young woman seemed to have vanished, but Jack wasn't sure when. He was busy watching the short blonde woman shout at the others. Jack didn't know who any of the others were, though he liked the man with the ponytail. The man rolled his eyes at the woman and looked upwards, catching jack out of the corner of his eye. Jack was worried, but the man simply smiled and gave Jack a wink, before returning to the convesation.

"You might wanna watch your words." He said to the woman.

"I will not! It has to be said; he's a danger, and should not be allowed to use his magic! He is going to kill someone! He's a child, nearly a teenager; why would he choose an angsty _child_ to be trusted with the magic?!"

Jack dropped from his beam and walked up to the man with the ponytail, standing behind the rest of the group.

"Nice to meet ya kid, sorry bout this." The man said, smiling. It was a warm smile that spread to his eyes.

"Hi, I'm not sure I know your name sorry." Jack replied.

"Eros, or Valentine if we're going by holidays." Jack smiled at the man; Valentines's Day. Jack stood next to the man and noticed a quill of arrows on his back, though he had no bow with him.

"Where'd the other lady go?" Jack asked.

The man laughed. "Work calls; she doesn't have a holiday, she's always on call. They watched the others argue, and Jack smiled to himself as snow began to fall from the ceiling, inside the room. Jack waited, and watched, wondering when they would notice. The man laughed and shook his head, joining Jack in his waiting. There was movement behind the two, and Jack realised someone else had joined in, guessing it was Phil Jack didn't turn around.

"It's freezing in here; what's wrong with you lot?" The woman asked, annoyed; Jack and the man turned to see the young woman standing behind them, rubbing her arms. The girl looked at Jack and smiled, it was also a warm smile, if a little sad.

"Oh so you're back are yo- ahh!" The others had turned at her words, and the short woman had seen Jack.

"Jack, welcome back! Staff is good?" North clapped his hands, excited to hear about the staff he had made.

"Yeah!" The excitement moved to Jack, who spun the staff in his hand without thinking. It felt good to do it, the weight helped it spin a little faster than his old one.

"Ahh is good! Ahh! You must meet guests!" North said, gesturing to Eros.

"Is Valentine! Eros better name." His large hand moved to point at the young lady, who nodded at Jack.

"Name's not important, nice to meet you. I'd call you kiddo but it doesn't feel right." She said, holding a hand out to Jack. Jack heard the othe woman let out a whimper as he raised his hand, and gently held the hand of the other lady.

'Umm, you don't seem to like the cold much but we're the same temperature." Jack said, confused.

The girl and Eros laughed together, and Jack felt her skin grow warmer against his.

"Sorry kid, naturally I'm fairly cold, still hate it though."

"A nasty side effect, if you will." Eros grinned as he spoke, and pulled away as the girl batted at his arm. Jack pulled his hand away and turned to face the other woman, who had stepped back quite far.

"How was work then?" he heard Eros whisper to the girl, who shrugged.

"Was expected, had a good idea of who it would be." She replied, her voice growing a lot softer.

"jack, meet Dawn!" North half shouted, still excited about the staff. He was glad it was working so well. Jack waved at the woman, who folded her arms across her chest in response. Jack wanted to step back, and would have if the young girl wasn't standing so close behind him. It all happened fairly quickly.

The woman lunged forward, hands aiming for the staff that Jack was holding. Jack felt himself get pulled back just in time by a pair of hands on his shoulder, and the young woman stepped where he had been moments earlier. The short woman, Dawn, stopped inches from the young lady who jack still had no name for.

"What exactly was your plan there, Dawn?" The girl said the name with a mocking tone, moving forward as she spoke. Dawn steped back, but didn't look away. Jack had been uplled back by Eros, who was checking Jack over as carefully as Tooth would have.

" _He doesn't deserve it."_ Dawn hissed.

North had come over and rested a hand on Jack's shoulder, and pointed to the staff, which had fallen to the floor.

"Is new staff, has upgardes." North smiled as he spoke, and gestured for Eros to pick the staff up. Eros looked rather taken back but reached for the staff, which scooted away from his grasp. North smiled as jack was able to reach over and pick up the wooden staff, which became it's usual glowing blue as Jack touched it. Jack smiled at North; no one else could take it.

"Question; did you say new?" The young girl asked, holding her hand up like a child in a classroom.

"yes! New and improved." North was pleased someone had noticed.

Jack saw her confusion and shrugged his shoulders. "The other one was broken by someone."

"It broke and you're alive?!"She was shocked, and so was Jack.

"I-I well I suppose?" Jack really wasn't sure what he was.

"Jack what do you mean? Your memories…" Toothiana had begun to speak, but was cut off by another whistle from the sirens. This one was loud and long, making the others cover their ears.

"Doesn't sound good, kid" Eros said, looking at the young girl. She groaned and threw her hands up in the air.

"God, can I not have ten minutes to myself?" She shouted and Jack blinked, and she was gone.

"You call her kid?" Bunny asked, seemingly shocked by it.

"She hasn't told me off yet." He said with a grin, before departing from the North Pole. Jack wasn't sure how he travelled, he was busy being fussed over by Toothiana. The Snow in the room had melted away, and North had managed to calm down Phil after the snow had spread into the workshop's main area. Jack rested his staff against the wall, feeling confident no one could take it now.

"Why was she surprised I'm alive still?" Jack asked Toothiana, who shook her head. She had no idea. Jack sighed, and slumped into the couch. He looked at Dawn, who was frowning at him.

"What?" He asked, suddenly annoyed with the woman.

"Don't feel important. She only stepped in because you're a child."

"Right, okay, thanks. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything."

The other guardians had joined them again after farewelling the guests, Sandy had also arrived. Bunny was keeping an eye on Dawn, though was trying his best not to be too intimidating. Jack had zoned out for a moment, and missed the start of the conversation.

"He won't last much longer, the last fellow barely lasted a month!" Dawn was speaking.

"Who lasted a month?" Jack asked, joining in.

"The last winter spirit." Bunny answer, keeping his eyes on Dawn. Jack enjoyed Bunny looking out for him.

"He was irresponsible and cocky; crushed by his own winds!" Dawn shouted, letting herself get worked up again.

"The wind? I can't imagine the wind crushing me." Jack said, not notiing the look on Dawn's face. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled; it was a child's smile. "I get along pretty well with the wind; hasn't thrown me away yet." Jack looked up at the globe without thinking, and saw the date.

"Oh no!" he shouted, before grabbing his staff. He hadn't realised how much time had gone by. He hadn't been paying attention to the days. Jack gave everyone a quick, before throwing his staff up into the air, and let it pull him off the ground. Jack left through the skylight, shouting a goodbye to them all.

"What?!" Dawn demanded, as the others laughed.

"Where's he rushin' off to?" Bunnyasked, after he stopped laughing.

North grinned at Bunny. 'Birthday party."


	10. Chapter 10 - My Presence is Your Present

**Chapter 10**

 _ **My Presence Is Your Present**_

Jack made it to the little wooden house just in time. They had finished playing outside and were moving into the house; it was chilly outside but not cold enough to stop the children from playing. Jamie and his parents were visting for the little girl's birthday, and had brought along a decent stack of gifts which were wrapped in brightly coloured paper. Jack's favourite wrapping paper was the white one with little blue stars on it. Jack followed the family into the little house, and let the door shut behind him before he settled into his spot on the windowsill. He was glad to see that the family rabbit Hoppers was still there, and was jumping around the living room floor, obviously excited by so many guests. The Mother smiled at Hoppers and carefully picked up the rabbit, and placed him in a wooden hutch to the side of the room. He settled down after a moment and watched the family from the hutch, enjoying some pieces of carrot from his bowl now and then. Jack smiled at Hoppers then turned to the family and watched as the little girl began to open her birthday gifts. The gifts weren't extravagant by any means but each one was well thought out and perfect for the little girl. A new set of earmuffs, some books about rabbit care, a soft pet bed (so that Hoppers could sleep in her room), some new snow boots that matched her Mum's, then an envelope. It was a plain white envelope, and she looked puzzled when she took it from her Father's hand. Jack watched, also puzzled, as she opened the envelope and pulled out pieces of paper; long rectangles with printing on one side. The little girl read the printing and stared at her Mother, her face breaking into a bright smile.

"Your Father saw the poster when he went out for work the other day, so we got tickets for us three and Iamie to go, it's not for a few weeks yet, so you'll have to be patient." Her Mother said, patting her daughter's head softly. The girl threw her arms around her Mother, then her Dad and thanked them both multiple times. It took a few moments for jack to be able to read the tickets she was holding, with her arms waving around so much, but he was able to read it in the end.

 _SWAN LAKE_

 _A ballet performance telling the story of Swan Lake; all ages allowed._

Jack looked at the little girl and smiled at how excited she was; she was jumping around, talking excitedly to Jamie. Jack laughed, then saw the little bit of writing that said where the ballet would be held; _Burgess Theatre._ Burgess! Jack jumped from where he was, and spun around a few times, before settling back against the window. Burgess! She was going to visit his town! Jack was full of energy for the rest of the night, excitedly jumping around the room as the family enjoyed cake and a movie together, before heading off to bed. Jamie and his parents left back to the town, they had booked a room at the hotel for the night. Jamie and his cousin said goodbye, before the young girl was settled into bed by her Mother. Jack heard the mother's voice become soft; she was singing a lullaby to her daughter. Jack looked at the now empty couch, and slowly walked over to it; he laid down over the soft couch and closed his eyes. They wouldn't mind, they wouldn't even know he was there. The woman's singing helped Jack relax, and he felt himself grow limp on the couch as he drifted off to sleep. The sleep didn't last long before Jack was woken up by a knocking at the front door. It was frantic, begging to be let in, and jack wasn't sure why, but he wanted to open the door. He didn't know who, or what, was outside but it sounded desperate. Thoughts passed through Jack's head, and his mind settled on one of Jamie; his parents car overturned in the snow, he had run back to the house for help. Jack jumped to the door, and opened it to find nothing there. Jack slowly stepped outside, staff in hand, and looked around. It was late, and there was nothing outside that could have made the noise. Jack looked at the snow and saw no footprint, human or animal, then raised his head to scan his surroundings. The moon was high and ful in the sky, but it didn't seem to help light up the snowy island much. Jack stood outside in the soft wind, marvelled at just how _dark_ it seemed to be. Jack felt his hair stand on end, and he gripped his staff tighter. Something didn't feel right out here.

"Are you hiding again, Jack?" The voice came from around him, and Jack gasped as he watched the shape of Pitch Black form from the ground in front of him. Pitch stretched his arms, he seemed tired. He ran a hand up his face, through his hair.

"What a boring place to hide." He said, looking at Jack.

"Uhh, then don't stay? I'm not hiding." Jack was unsure what to say.

"Oh, so you aren't hiding anymore? What changed?"

"I-" Jack was interrupted by Pitch laughing.

"You fixed it? How positively marvelous for you!" Pitch grinned, and Jack knew he meant the staff.

"No, it's a new one. North made it."

"Ahh, so they let you back did they? What a lot of fools; you betrayed them!"

"I did not!"

"You left! You went searching for something you don't deserve, and they paid for your stupid mistakes." Pitch was slowly walking towards Jack. His hands were behind his back, which was straight and strong. Jack watched him carefully, waiting for the attack.

"I had such high hopes for you Jack, you could have been so powerful. It makes such perfect sense; the dark, and the cold. You're practically doing it anyway; you caused that car crash."

Jack swallowed, and kept his eyes on Pitch's, locking him in eye contact. Jack let his body relax, and he allowed himself to fall into his usual way of speaking.

"Lovely chat, great to catch up but, you're not invited to the brithday party sadly." Jack smiled, hoping it was as smug as he had meant it to be.

"Ahh, not even after I brought a present?"

"A present? What could _you_ bring as a present?" Jack asked, unbelieving what Pitch was saying.

"My presence." Pitch said, and smiled. He jumped forwards, his arms stretching out from behind him, and the darkness seemed to billow out from behind him. Jack threw his staff up, but nothing happened. He looked at his hands to see his staff broken in half, and felt the wave of black sand crash over him. It threw him back against the wall of the house, and held him there as it pushed at the door and windows, wanting to get in. Jack heard glass break and knew that the windows had given in. The black sand began to flood the house, and Jack heard the quiet shrieks of a young girl. Jack began to cough as the sand forced at his mouth, and he felt himself sit up, still coughing. Jack looked around to see the fireplace flickering away in the night, and Hoppers happiy asleep next to it. He found his staff leaning against the couch; it was a solid piece still. It was strong, Jack knew it was, North had made it specially for him. Jack climbed up from the couch and made his way outside, staff in hand. He shut the door behind him and looked out at the area that surrounded the house; it was well lit, the full moon overhead was brilliantly bright that evening. Jack sat in the snow, resting his back against the outside wall of the house. Jack looked at the sky, and noticed the thin treams of glde sandoverhead. They weren't as thick as the other nights he had seem them over the house. He wondered if someone was wrong; Sandy might need help. Jack shot off from the ground and followed the thin ropes of sand across the sky. Jack followed and followed until he came across Sandy floating above a small building in the middle of a field, Jack could see a forested area nearby. Sandy was pouring the majority of his sand at the house, helping it creep through the windows of the small wooden building. Jack dropped next to the building and looked through one of the windows, he could see an adult woman sitting with a group of seven young children. She was telling stories to the children who were edging on falling asleep. The woman looked exhausted, she was holding a small brown dog on her lap and was rubbing it's neck. That's when Jack noticed the smell; it was a smell that choked his nostrils, and it was hot. How could a smell be hot? Jack thought to himself, and and he turned to look behind him, and found his answer. It wasn't the smell, it was the _air._ The air was dry and hot, and Jack saw the source of the smell itself.

He could see the tips of flames flicking in the wooded area; the flames were eating the dry brush, moving closer and closer to the small building. Jack felt the grass under his feet; _dry._ He looked at Sandy, then back to the woods. Sandy was trying to calm the children, they were obviously aware of the flames, and were frightened. Jack flewup above the house and saw that the flames had eaten into a circle around the house; there was no safe way out. Movement caught his attention, someone was walking towards the house. Jack recongised them as the young who he had met at the North Pole. She gave a quick wave to Sandy before climbing through a window and making her way into the house. Jack heard crying from the house, and that's when he decided he would have to try to do _something._ He saw a crowd of people on another side of a stretch of bush; they were dressed in heavy yellow outfits. Jack realised he had found a crew of firefighters, and decided that's how he would help. Jack flew over and dropped to the ground amongst the adults; men and women, some older than others, but all working hard to fight the blaze. They were trying to force a break in the flames so they could reach the building.

Jack hoped he could help; he didn't want to make things worse. He swallowed, and closed his eyes for a second before holding his staff out towards the blaze. The air over the flames cooled, and he saw the small flakes of snow form within the flames, carefully keeping them out of the sight of the firefighters. He focused on keping the air steady but cool, rushing winds would only fan the flames. He saw the small areas of snow melt as they got closer to the flames, and he continued. Jack heard the shouting of the adults around him grow louder, and more hopeful.

"We've got a break!" Someone shouted; an older man.

They moved as a solid team; everyone having a place and a job. A number of them moved forward through the path Jack had helped them to form, while some stayed back to keep water focused on the flames, to prevent them from growing back. Jack waited and smiled with relief as he saw the children being carried back through the pathway. Jack's smile faded as he saw the flame spring back into life as a wall behind the group, and he heard a shout. Jack listened to the rushed conversation; they were missing a child. They had paniced and run from the group, and were likely stuck in the flames. Jack threw himself into the air above the trees, and scanned the bush until he found the tiny child in the flames. He floated down towards the child, and saw there was an adult next to them. The flames seemed to be held back from the child and adult, not daring break a narrow circle around the two. The adult looked up and gave a soft wave; it was the young lady. She was rubbing the child's back; who was laying curled up in the dry grass and sticks. He saw the flames licking at the circle, and a few managed to break the invisible barrier. He dropped from the sky, landing next to the two, and faced the trees. He was looking dead at the direction the firefighters were, and knew he would have to help.

The flames were hot, the water the truck could give wasn't cooling enough on the blaze to create a safe enough pathway. Jack did what he had done previously, and let the air around him cool, before spreading the snow into the flames. Jack watched the of the flames shrink back, and stepped forward. He stepped into the blazing bush and felt the snow under his feet form as he walked. He wanted as much snow to melt into the earth as possible, to drown out the flames. Heheard the running, and shouting, as the firefighters broke through the still burning trees. The fire had died down enough for them to attempt a rescue, and he heard the shouts as they saw the child. A young man picked the child up gently, then the crew turned, and made their way back to their truck, and the rest of the children.

'Frosty!" He heard the shout behind him, and felt a hand tighten around his forearm. Jack felt an odd tugging feeling in his chest, and saw everything around him blur into a whirl of red, orange and black. Jack opened his eyes as he coughed, and saw that the ground had changed; it was made up of wooden planks. Jack felt the solid ground against his hands, and rolled himself onto his back. He took a deep breath of the cold air, and looked up at the ceiling. Glittering gold and red baubles looked back at him, and he blinked. _The North Pole._


	11. Chapter 11 - Don't Let Me Burn

**Chapter 11**

 _Don't Let Me Burn_

Jack heard footsteps nearby, but didn't move from where he was laying. The wood beneath him was cool, and he wanted to absorb as much of the cold as he was able to. He let his head roll to the side as his body relaxed and he saw the body lying next to him. She was laying on her side, facing away from him, unmoving. The footsteps had grown louder, and Jack felt the vibrations in the ground beneath him.

"Jack!" He heard North shout, and he saw her stir. She sat herself up slowly, accepting some help from Toothiana. She groaned and rubbed the back of her head, and looked at Jack.

"Hey kiddo." She was smiling, and let Toothiana help her to her feet. She brushed off her clothing, and her arms before letting out a breath. It was shaky, and Jack felt she wanted to get some time alone, but she was rather stuck now; she would be until Tooth's worrying had stopped. Tooth moved to Jack and helped him up, moving him to a couch where he sat down, sinking into the soft cushions.

"Dirt!" North said, unpleased as he saw her shaking the black dust off of her clothes, letting it fly through the air of the workshop.

"Ashes, I think." She said, smiling at North. Jack liked her smile, it was friendly.

"Sandy doing okay?" She asked, letting her shoulders relax when the others nodded in response.

"He came back last night exhausted, hung around for a little then headed out to do sleep for the other kids." Bunny said, joining the group. He looked at her, then to Jack, and raised an eyebrow.

"Any reason you two smell like a barbecue?" He asked with a smirk.

"Because your country keeps trying to burn itself down." She snapped.

"I don't have a- christ kiddo, you were in that?" Bunny's face fell; he had heard about the fire.

She gave a sigh and a nod in response, and waved towards Jack.

"I don't care what Dawn says, the kid's _good._ " She said.

"Of course is good!" North said, apparently offended by the remark.

She rolled her eyes. "Not moral-" She was interrupted by someone falling through the skylight, as Jack often did, and joining the group. The group turned to see Eros standing amongst them, staring at her. She gave a wave, but scowled at him.

"Checking on me?' She asked.

"You were in a fire; of course I'm checking on you!" He said rather loudly, his voice sounding exaspaerated.

"I'm fine, Eros. I shouldn't have travelled so far with two people, but that's my own fault."

"Two?" He asked, and watched her gesture to Jack, who was sitting on the couch. Jack gave a weak smile, but didn't move from the seat.

"You travelled with Frosty? Why? And why is he…covered in dirt?"

"Said was dirt!" North joined in.

"Someone had to drag him out of the fire!" She shouted, and shook her head as everyone turned to look at Jack.

"I don't know what Dawn's issue is; how long has it been since a winter spirit walked into a fire?" She sat on the floor and leant back against a couch across the room from Jack. Her shoulders ached, more than they had in a long time. She would have joked about it being a sign of her old age, but that wasn't a concern anymore.

"Is it bad she travelled with me?" Jack whispered to Eros as he sat on the couch, joining Jack.

"What? Oh no, sorry kid. It's just more strenuous than a one person travel is, especially when you're already weakened." Eros explained, smiling at Jack. Jack nodded and relaxed into the back of the couch.

"Why were you there?" Tooth asked, looking at the girl. She shrugged in response.

"Doing my job, I guess. Thought Sandy could use a hand." She looked over at Jack and looked confused.

"Hey Frosty, I heard you got your teeth back. You haven't mentioned anything. Can't get it to work?" She asked; Jack looked at her with wide eyes.

"I-I, it feels weird when I hold it. Like it doesn't _want_ me to open it." Jack admitted, he had been avoiding the little box.

"Jack it has to want you to, the entire purpose of them is to help you." Tooth was talking now. Her hands were folded together in front of her. Tooth looked at the young lady, and seemed nervous.

"Your call Toothiana." The lady said; it felt so strange to hear Tooth's name said in full. Jack watched Tooth closely, she seemed anxious, like she wasn't sure what to do. Tooth looked at Jack.

"Have you got it, Jack?" She asked.

Jack left and fetched the memory box from the drawer he had hidden it in; he had grown tired of it making him feel so sick when he tried to sleep. The box felt heavy and strange in his hand; it was cold in a way that Jack didn't enjoy. He joined his friends again and handed the memory box to Toothiana, who held onto it with trembling hands, before holding it out to the young lady. Jack sat on his couch and saw that North and Bunny had both found seats, and Sandy had joined them, floating nearby. They were watching the young lady as she took the memory box, and held it on the flat of her palm. Jack saw the movement from the corner of his eye, and noticed someone else had joined the group. The short lady was watching the group, her hands on her hips, her face a scowl. Jack felt his chest fall; it was Dawn.

"What are you doing? Who gave you that!" Dawn shouted, storming over to the young lady.

"I did." Jack said, hoping his voice wasn't as shaky as it sounded in his ears.

"Jack gave it to me and I gave it to her." Tooth said; looking dead straight at Dawn. Jack had never noticed quite how tall Toothiana could be when she tried.

"W-what!" Dawn spat out, looking with disgust from Toothiana to the memory box. She moved forward, and grabbed the arm of the young lady.

"That does not belong to you." She hissed, staring at the girl, who seemed to ignore her.

"Y-you're a mess! Did your parents not teach you anything?!" Dawn shouted and reached out to grab the memory box. The memory box moved, it jerked from side to side on the hand, then floated upwards from the hand, hovering a few inches above the palm. The box rotated until its colourful top was facing the hand, and two tiny doors sprung open. Jack watched as a handful of black sand trickled out of the memory and collected in a tidy pile in the palm of her hand. Dawn let go, and took steps back, watching in horror as the sand fell from the box. Finally, after no more sand fell from the box, the doors closed themselves and the box dropped to the ground. Tooth picked the cylindical box up and passed it to Jack, who took it carefully. He didn't trust the little box at all now; knowing what it had been filled with.

"Don't look at it like that, kiddo, nothing wrong with it." The young girl said, smiling gently at him.

"Why would Pitch fill it with the sand though; did he know what it would do?" Tooth asked, looking at Jack with nervous eyes.

"Well truthfully, we don't even know if it was on purpose." The young girl said, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "He's constantly surrounded by the stuff; it could have made it's own way in when he was simply holding it."

Dawn opened and shut her mouth, unable to speak, and after a few moments of this, shouted.

"Of course it was on purpose! Why are you on _his_ side?" She asked, her tone of voice accusatory.

The young lady threw her hands into the air, sending the black sand above the heads of everyone. The sand shook in the air, before floating to Sandy's cloud, and joining the mass of sand as it's colour changed from black to a bright gold.

"Why are you here, Dawn?!" She asked, resting her hands on her hips. "You weren't invited; you just barged in, grabbed me, and tried to snatch something off of me!"

"I came to speak to Bunnymund; he wasn't at the warren so I guessed he was here." Dawn said, looking at Bunny. He looked confused, not sure why the woman wanted to speak to him of all people.

Dawn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Uhh good guess, I suppose." Bunnymund said, standing straight and looking at the short woman.

"Hmph. I came to see if you've begun any preparations for the nature repair that we will need to do. The forests are ruined aafter those fires, luckily the last one didn't spread nearly as far as the first. I know you vowed to protect all children but, some simply are _brats."_

Bunnymund grew much taller; his back and shoulders stood tall as his eyes narrowed at Dawn.

"It was an accident." Bunny said, his voice stern. Dawn's face seemed to melt into a smug grin.

"The child was an idiot; and could have caused people to lose their lives. Why defend them?"

"They're a child! They didn't know what would happen." Bunny argued back.

"They were foolish, and caused damage that will take years to repair! The child was irresponsible and has no understanding of the damage they have caused; though I shouldn't be surrpised you're defending him, you've pratically adopted one of your own!" She yelled. Jack wanted to shrink away into the couch, to hide outside in the snow. He had felt strong until now, until she had brought her attention to him. She didn't mention him by name; she hadn't needed to.

The sound of the pale hand striking Dawn's face was not one that any of the Guardians expected, but was one that he would remember. Bunny would also remember it, quite fondly. The air in the room seemed to become still, and felt incredibly thick; Jack was convinced he would choke on the tension in the air. Eyes fell on the young woman, who was standing inches from Dawn; her hair had grown a dark grey, her eyes seemed different, but Jack couldn't place why. Dawn raised a hand and let it rest on her now red cheek; her eyes were wide, and had focused on the girl. She raised her mouth to speak, but was cut off, the young girl had beaten her to it.

"How _dare_ you." She hissed, stepping closer to Dawn. Dawn stepped back, moving closer to the other Guardians.

"I was simply sayi-" Dawn tried to defend herself, but was not allowed to continue.

"You were saying nothing useful; the words you decided were worth our time are in fact, _rubbish._ How dare you speak about a child like that, and how dare you speak about Jack like that!"

"I didn-" Dawn tried.

"You didn't need to _say_ it Dawn, we know, he knows it. Every guardian, spirit and trickster out there knows how you feel." The young woman said, stepped back and rubbing her wrist gently with the other hand.

"You, of all people, are defending the spirit of _winter._ I'm simply trying to understand what is happening." Dawn said, but saw the same as the others; when they had blinked, the young girl had vanished. Eros groaned and rubbed his brow. Tooth reached a hand out to his shoulder but he gave her a smile, and she stepped back. Eros waved at Jack, motioning for Jack to follow him. Jack hesiiated for a moment, but got off the couch and slowly followed Eros outside. The cold winds welcomed them, and Jack felt somewhat calmer being in his prefered environment.

Eros let the door close behind them and stood next to Jack; he didn't speak, he just rested his hands in his pants pockets and looked out at the snowy landscape. The pair stood in silence for some time, letting the cool air surround them.

"I thought you didn't like the cold." Jack said, breaking the silence.

"I don't like Dawn more though." Eros said, not looking at Jack, but smiling.

There was silence again, until it was once again broken; by Eros this time.

"I know they were thinking it, but they were too worried to say it to you earlier; you did good kid." Eros looked down at Jack, who was avoiding the older man's gaze. Jack felt his cheeks warm, and he wondered whether or not his skun would redden like children did when they blushed. Eros smiled before letting out a sigh; it was heavy.

Jack looked up at Eros, who was watching the wind throwing snowflakes around in front of them.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked; wondering if he was pushing it.

"I wish she hadn't done it; as much as Dawn deserved it, it wasn't the best thing she could have done."

"Is she in trouble then?" Jack was worried, she had been standing up for him.

"She'll be in trouble with Dawn but that doesn't really mean anything. The problem is, what other spirits may think of what she did. Some will cheer for it, some will think it was unneccesary. They won't say anything to her about it but she's good at reading people."

"So… is going to hide from them?" Jack asked, not wanting to probe too much, but wanting to know if she would do the same.

Eros let out a laugh that startled Jack; it was warm and hearty, almost like North.

"She is very, very good at hiding. Annoyingly so, actually. Problem with it is, she can be nearby, you just don't _see_ her. It's awfully annoying at times."

"Oh, I see." Jack said, and fell silent again, for a moment. "Okay, no I don't." He shooke dhis head, not really knowing what Eros was saying. Eros laughed again and patted Jack on the back.

"Just try to ignore what Dawn says, she's one of our oldest so she has a bit of a…opinion of how things should run."

"Without me." Jack said; it was a statement, he didn't need Eros to confirm it. Eros gave a soft nod to Jack.

"Withot you, and without the kiddo." Eros said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why? What's she done wrong?" Jack asked.

"Dawn just doesn't like, or understand, what she does. Everyone thinks it at some point but, she isn't death. She does a job people don't really understand, many don't even realise it's a job that needs doing but, we leave her alone to do it. Well most of us, I'll tag along sometimes. " Eros grinned at Jack as he turned and opened the large front door of the North Pole. "Maybe give it a go." He finished as he walked inside, and as Jack followed, he knew Eros would be gone when he entered the room.


	12. Chapter 12 - A Poor Night Out

_The young lady is actually a character from another ToTG story I was swriting but haven't uploaded. I ended up liking her a lot so decided to bring her over here._

 **Chapter 12**

 _ **A Poor Night Out**_

Jack entered the workshop again, and as he thought, Eros was nowhere to be seen. Bunny and North seemed to be mid arguemnt, while Dawn was shouting at them, demanding they listen to her. Tooth was standing back, hands folded neatly in front of herself as she stood away from the group. She saw Jack enter and smiled at the young Guardian; Tooth was the mother of their group, and she filled the role well. Jack looked over the others in the room as he sank into his couch from earlier. Sandy had also joined the group, and was watching silently as the others argued. The couch was comfortable and Jack smiled as he sank into the cushions, listening to the others shout. North and Bunny were yelling at one another, while Dawn was yelling at the both of them; though she was ignored.

"Has Eros left then?" Tooth asked, speaking across the room to Jack. He nodded in response.

"Ah Jack! Good chat, yes?" North asked, now that Tooth had brought his attention to Jack. Bunny looked over at Jack and seemed to smile; the argument was done for now. Though the topic of it was not.

"Why are you all shouting? Could hear you outside." Jack asked, leaning back into the couch and stretching his legs out, crossing them at the ankles.

"There was no argument, just these two shouting about nothing." Dawn huffed.

"That's how they argue." Jack said, smiling.

North let out a laugh, and Bunny rolled his eyes Dawn huffed again. Jack Had to stop himself from laughing; he felt a lot better after chattign with Eros. He wasn't sure why, the conversation wasn't exactly riveting. Jack looked at tooth, who was hovering a few inches above the ground, hands still folded in front of her. From the corner of his eye he saw Dawn leave, and noticed Tooth's shoulders droop; she was relaxing. It felt as if the whole group took a collective breath of relief; which was close to what happened.

"Everything okay Tooth?" Jack asked, eyes still on Tooth.

"Oh, yes Jack. She's just always been a little too much for me." Tooth smiled at Jack.

"I hope the sprout's alright, must've felt good slapping the ol' girl though." Bunny said, partly to himself. "Hopefully she hasn't started something bad for herself."

Jack felt his eyebrows raise. "What could she have started?" Jack asked, needing to know. He heard a muttered _Good going, Bunny,_ from North but ignored it. Bunny looked like a deer in a set of headlights, he had said something he shouldn't have.

"It- er, nothing, don't worry about it Jack." Bunny said, wanting to drop the subject. Jack did not want to.

"All she did was slap her! Kids do it all the time."

"It's different Jack. Dawn regards certain spirits as… better than others, as more important. She thinks very highly of seasonal spirits – don't make that face – and a few other of the miscellanous spirits, there's a few of us that don't really have a category."

Tooth huffed, which dragged everyone's attention to her. It was rare to hear something negative from Tooth.

"Which doesn't explain why she is so nasty towards the girl. She has no category but her job is important; even if Dawn prefers to pretend it isn't a job that is needed."

That settled it, Jack wanted to know what she did. No matter what he argued, the others would not tell him quite what she did, just that it was important; to everyone, not just kids. The conversation died off when Tooth and Sandy left, followed shortly after by Bunny. Jack said his goodbye to North before shooting off through the skylight that North left open for the young boy; and flew off over the North Pole. How was Jack meant to figure out what she did? Was he meant to watch her work? How was he meant to do that when everyone kept saying she was hard to find?

The questions rattled around Jack's head as he floated around the world, being careful not to linger in the warmer places, it still felt a little raw. He couldn't decide what he wanted to do, nothing was holding his attention. He did hover a little longer than he should have over some overly dry looking bushland, and let some snow melt over the grass, keeping it a little more damp than it was. The air felt dry, and Jack could feel the dust clinging to his skin as he shot through the air overhead. Jack spent hours floating above little towns, big cities and the large expanses of land inbetween. What was he meant to do? Perhaps he'd go back to the North Pole and get some sleep, or maybe he could find Sandy and watch him work. Jack dropped into a tree and sat himself on one of the branches, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. It was in the park of a large city, in the middle of the city's entertainmnt area. Jack enjoyed the background noise of large cities; the hustle of people always having somewhere to go, and the noise of traffic that never seemed to stop, even late at night. He sat on the branch and watched the few people who walked past, it was late, and people were heading home for the night. A young girl ran under the tree, followed by two other girls about the same age. They were shouting, but it was playful, until an older woman grabbed one of the girls by her arm.

"You were asked to behave today, just to get through this." The woam said, her voice weak. Her face looked drained, she seemed to be carrying an immense weight on her shoulders. Jack tilted his head and climbed further down the tree to listen better.

"But Mama, I don't want to go see them!" The little girl whined; Mama coming out more like Mam-maw, which made Jack smile.

"Sweetie please, I need to you to help me get through this, then we'll be all done with them." The little girl thought for a second then nodded, and held the woman's hand. Curious about the pair, Jack followed them down the street, to a church. The two of them made it inside just asit began to rain; they made their way into the large building, over to a crowd that had gathered. Many of them were already sitting in the pews, but seemed to ignore the woman and young girl as they walked through the crowd, to the front row of seats. An elderly woman caught site of them, and narrowed her eyes, apparently upset by the two. The woman and child sat in an empty seat in the front row, and cast a polite smile at the elderly woman, which seemed to upset her even more. Jack stayed at the back of the room, leaning against a wall, as he watched the scene before him. It took some time for Jack to really catch onto what was happening. The room full of people in black attire, and the quiet music in the background, the man at the front of the room giving a great speech about how the deceased will be missed deeply. Jack had followed two people to a funeral; he had nterrupted something incredibly personal, and he felt awful. Jack moved along the wall, plannng to leave, when he bumped someone.

"Oh sorry!" Jack said, not thinking. He blinked, he bumped someone? Jack looked up from the floor, to see a pair of familiar, friendly eyes, and hair that was an off white, almost blonde. The girl smiled at Jack; she was leaning against the wall, watching the scene.

"Good to see ya kiddo." She said, patting the wall next to her. Jack moved to the spot slowly, before leaning against the wall again. Of course he had touched someone; it was someone much like him.

"Not where I expected to run into you." She said, her voice as friendly as ever. She didn't seem annoyed Jack had turned up.

"I kind of followed someone, I didn't know where they were going." Jack admitted.

"I saw you come in, you followed the woman and her daughter. Lovely family, all of them. Well, almost all of them but, the other one isn't an issue now." She said, motioning with her eyes at the casket in the front of the room. Jack had been avoiding looking at it, it felt strange to look at the box.

"Who was it?" He asked.

"The father." She answered, not looking away from the scene before them. Jack continued to watch as well, and heard the faint sounds of sobbing from the group. He felt movement next to him, and realised she had moved from the wall. Jack went to followed, but felt like he couldn't move from the wall; he felt incredibly heavy. He watched as she walked up the centre aisle of the seats. The crowd of people seemed to have slowed down, while she walked at a regular pace, with a clear goal in mind. He watched as she walked around the casket, and stood on the other side, and slowly raised a hand above the casket, holding her palm towards the wooden box. Jack felt an odd tug in his chest; like he needed something, badly. His body ached for something but it was too slow and heavy to get it; whatever it was. Jack accepted the odd feeling in his body, and let himself sag against the wall as he watched. He watched as a stream of light coloured sand, almost silver, rose from the open casket, and began to slowly form into a twisting circle around her hand. The sand slowed and soon rolled itself into a ball which she wrapped her hand around. Jack caught her eyes, then blinked. When his eyes opened she was gone, and a tall man stood in her place. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and another tug, which he followed. He followed her outside into the rain, his mind buzzing with questions he couldn't form with his mouth.

"I-who-what?" Jack sputered, and she laughed. She rolled the little silver ball in her hand, before placing it into the pocket of a black coat she was wearing.

"I didn't realise he was going to do it so quickly, sorry kiddo, didn't think you needed t see the whole deal." She said, looking at Jack. She looked tired.

"He?" Jack asked.

"Death." She answered, and the word hung in the air around them.

Jack swallowed, not sure what to say, but she was already turning and walking away. Jack followed, without knowing why, and quickly caught up to her, falling into step beside her. The two of them walked down the sidewalk of the busy main street the church was on. The rain had grown even harder, small puddles had formed in parts of the sidewalk, which she stepped around. She wore tidy black boots with a small heel, and Jack noticed how tight the coat was at her waist before it flared outwards in a large skirt. Jack wasn't sure how warm a coat like that could be,with how much the skirt was flapping in the wind, but it did look nice. It struck Jack as odd to consider a spirit as stylish but, stranger things happened, he supposed.

"Is he nice?' Jack asked, wanting to break the silence.

"Who?" She asked.

"Er, Death." Jack felt silly saying it, but she laughed without it being nasty.

"He's alright, a little overbearing in the 'doom and gloom' and mysterious spirit way of never getting a straight forward answer." They turned onto another street, and continued to walk.

"Why were you surprised when he turned up earlier?"

"He normally waits til they're actually buried but, I guess he was as done with the git as everyone else." She said, then laughed. "Er, don't mention to the others about my language. Don't wanna get me in trouble.

"You mean, more trouble." Jack said, and had to smile at the look she gave him. It wasn't impressed but it was amused, and Jack enjoyed it. He was enjoying having someone around who was closer to his age; possibly.

"So, how long have you been doing this?" He asked.

"Doing what?"

Jack waved his arms around. "All of this, whatever it is you do. Hundreds of years, a hundred? How long?"

"Kid, I'm not even in the tens yet, don't make me think about the hundreds."

Jack didn't know how to response to that. She hadn't even been here ten years? Jack thought back to his first year, and his second, his third and every one after that til now. Three hundred years, and Jack seemed to remember each one. Not well, but each one seemed to feel slightly different. A flash of bright light ahead caught jack's attention, and he realised he had started looking at the ground as he thought. He looked up, and realised she had stopped walking, but was just staring ahead. They had found one of the city squares, which had been filled with food trucks and market stalls, and decorated with strings of bright lights. The square was full ofpeople going from stall to stall, and lining up at the food trucks. The air was a mixture of the smells of rich foods and the heavy scent of the rain that was still falling.

Jack saw her look over at him, her face stretched into a smile he usually saw on the face of an excited child; like the look they had on christmas morning. She wandered off into the crowd and jack noticed she dodged people, as if they would also bump into her. Something in Jack'schest tugged again, painfully. He had found out very quickly no one would bump into him, he wondered if she had as well. Maybe she simply fell nto human habits, or she wanted to avoid the feeling of someone walking through her. Jack didn't think it would be okay to ask, so he didn't. Rather he joined her in the crowd, and the two of them enjoyed the atmosphere of the little night market that had been set up. The rain let up until all that was left were puddles and a damp chill to the air. Jack enjoyed how much she smiled and laughed during the evening, it was so genuine.

The two of them noticed it at the same time, a child broke from their Mother's grasp and ran, laughing as they did. The child didn't notice the busy road, nor did the cars notice the child. A boy in his teens saw the child and without hesitation, raced to the street. Jack did not see what had happened, but heard the honking and shouts for help from other passersby. He didn't see her move, but he saw her standing near the street, moving into the crowd of people that had gathered. Jack walked over and stood nearby, not too close, so he could see what was happening. The young child was on the sidewalk across the street, cradled in their Mother's arms, while the young boy was laying in a heap on the street. A car was close by, both doors wide open, someone sitting in the drivers seat, face in their hands. She stood over the body, looking down the boy's limp figure, and Jack realised her eyes were closed. Jacknoticed the other person who was standing nearby, on the other side of the boy, and recognised the figure he had seen earlier near the casket.

"Child, I did not know you would be out tonight; I thought you may be resting after work earlier. Are you enjoying your evening?" The man asked, as if there was nothing going on around him.

Her eyes opened, and moved up to focus on the man's.

"You may leave, you are not needed this evening." She said, her voice flat. Jack felt his chest catch; she was arguing with Death.

"You are a gifted child, but this is not your job. Go, enjoy your evening." The man said, gesturing back at the market.

"No." Jack heard the whisper from her, as she raised her hand. Something like a bubble of air seemed to emonate from her, expanding outwards in a rush of still air that pshed against him, almost threatening to knock him over. He watched in marvel, and mild horror, as the boy's form began to convulse as he sucked in air in desperate breaths. The boy coughed as he struggled to breathe, paramedics reaching him in time to assist. Soon the boy was stable, though he had to be loaded into the ambulance. The three of them; Jack, Death and the girl watched from the side as the boy was loaded and driven away, the ambulance's sirens blasting through the air.

"I heard you struck Dawn." Death said, not looking at her.

"She deserved it." She replied back, not looking at him.

"I thought you may say that. You do not need to stand up for everyone. It's no-"

"Apparently nothing I do is my job. My job is boring, I need to do something besides it. Enjoy your evening Jack, I'll trust the wind can you get home." She said, and then was gone. Jack sighed, and looked a the sky.

"I don't even know what her job is!" Jack moaned out loud, surpised by the chuckle from death, before he too vanished.

"Spirits; useless lot." Jack muttered to himself, annoyed by the lack of what he had learnt.


	13. Chapter 13 - A Misunderstanding

**Chapter 13**

 _ **A Misunderstanding**_

Jack had visited everyone that morning, and again at lunch, and he went to do another round before dinner but was told firmly by Bunny not to come back. Something about being too bouncy. Jack moaned that Bunny simply wasn't bouncy enough, to which Bunny shouted "I'm a rabbit!" and throwing Jack into a warren tunnel. Jack laughed as he raced through the tunnel, and popped out the other end near the town edge of Burgess. It was later in the day, and jack was worried he would be late, but everything had gone well. He followed Jamie's family as they drove from the house, and made their way to the theatre near the centre of town. The family, plus Jamie's cousin, piled out of the car and made their way inside the building. It was the perfect evening; cold, but not so cold it was uncmfortable, and the air was fantastically crisp. Jack followed the crowd into the theatre, careful not to touch anyone, and kept up with the family as they made their way to their seats. They were in the second row from the back. Jack sat himself behind the family, letting himself get comfortable in the back row which was empty. The air in the theatre was warm, but not so warm that Jack didn't want to be there. Jamie and his cousin were bouncing in their seats from excitement, ready for the show to start. The theatre wasn't large, so they could see the performers quite clearly as the lights dimmed behind them, the music started, and the show began.

"Enjoying the show?" He heard someone ask, and Jack shushed them without thinking. He wasn't to worried, no one in the room could see him, let alone hear him shushing them.

"What's got your hoddie in a twist kid? Rude tonight aren't ya." Came the voice again, amused. Jack blinked and turned to see the young girl sitting herself into the chair besides him. She was wearing the same black coat as she had last time he saw her, with the same boots, but her hair was pulled back into a bun on her head; it was closer to being white today, which he found oddly charming. No charming wasn't the right word; nice. Nice would do. The two of them didn't speak again for awhile, they sat and enjoyed the show in silence. Jack noticed that her fingers would tap along with the music.

"Have you seen the play before?" He asked.

"Oh, a few times. She always wanted to get the lead, I'm so proud of her." She said, not really paying attention. She was focused on the show.

"Who?"

"Who?"

"No you said-" Jack didn't continue, he could tell she hadn't meant to say it, and didn't want to push. He wanted to know, badly, but knew that she wasn't going to say anything she didn't want to. So, he decided to ask something else.

"What was Dawn talking about, the other day, after the fire?" He asked.

"What specifically? She said lots of things."

"She was trying to say something, but everyone kept cutting her off, saying I didn't need to know. What am I not meant to know?"

She was silent. Jack couldn't tell if she was upset, mad, or just didn't want to have the conversation. Jack fell into the silence, and watched the show again. It was some minutes later that she broke it again.

"A kid started it, the fire. It was an acident, the whole thing was; an accident that became a mess. The kid's nice, didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. They were running to get help, but the grass was just too dry, the air too hot, and the fire spread too quickly for them to do anything. So they lied; they found their parents and said they had found a bushfire, so of course the parents pack up the car and the pets and kids, and race to find other help and warn the neighbours." She paused, taking in a breath. Jack hoped she would continue, which she did.

"You were weak kid, winter spirits don't go into fires for a reason. They didn't want you to know for a few reasons. They didn't want to you focus on it instead of recovering and well, one of the main things is, they didn't want you to think badly of the kid."

"I wouldn't have!" Jack protested.

"Don't need to defend yourself kid, not with me, not now." The tone of voice was genuine, and calmed Jack. "They were worried kid, they always will, you're the youngest one. They've spent years now looking after kids that don't truly know them, but you're _here_ with them, amongst them, a true child, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Well, how old were you when you died?"

"Oh, uh.."

"You still haven't opened it?"

The question made Jack uneasy, like a child who hadn't done his homework, and he didn't want to answer the question. Luckily he didn't have to, as the crowd stood suddenly, and broke into applause. Jack saw the girl was standing as well, and clapping greater than the crowd; her whole spirit was in that applause. Jack watched the performers bow and stand, smiling out into the crowd.

"God she doesn't look a thing like me." She said, with a smile.

Jack scanned the performers and found her; a younger girl, in her teens he would guess. Jack disagreed completely. The two looked as if they could be twins; one young, and one the future version. Jack turned again, and saw she was gone, as was usual whenever Jack saw her. He left the theatre, giving a soft wave goodbye to Jamie and his family, before the wind picked him up and he flew away. He had enjoyed his evening, and was glad to see the family together, but the end of the night had left an odd feeling in his stomach. She knew the girl in the play, obviously, but why? How? They looked so alike Jack guessed they were sisters, they had to be. He ignored it, wanting to not intrude, and decided instead to sleep on it. Perhaps he could decide what to do tomorrow, so he headed back to the North Pole. He dropped in through his skylight, and headed to his bedroom; it still felt so strange to think he had his own room in the workshop. He rested his saff against the wall next to the bed, and climbed under the covers, and fell asleep quickly, falling into an unpleasant and fitful sleep.

Jack was in the city he had visited earlier, standing in the square where the markets had been held. The markets weren;t there, rather the square was empty of people, and Jack saw the area of street the accident had happened. There were no cars, no people just Jack, as he walked over to the spot. He saw a large stain on the asphalt, and felt his chest lurch at the sight of it. Jack saw movement, and looked up to see the girl standing nearby, looking away from was gone when he blinked, and he let out a sigh.

"Strange girl, isn't she." A voice came, and Jack didn't need to turn to see the speaker.

"Evenin' Pitch, you're out late." Jack said.

"Best time of the day for being out my boy, lovely cold air too. Really makes the mood I think." Jack saw the shadow on the ground beside him, and realised Pitch was physically standing beside him. He continued to look at the dark stain.

"She is marvellous though, isn't she?" Pitch continued, moving closer to Jack. "The ability to control whether or not that child _died_. Imagine having that kind of power. To tell off the very being that is Death." Pitch was behind Jack now, leaning in close, and placing his hands on Jack's shoulders. Jack wanted to move, or to fight, but didn't, he felt heavy. It was the same feeling from the church, and Jack figured she must be nearby again.

"Why don't you want to remember?" Pitch asked, digging his fingers into Jack's shoulders, hard enough for it to sting. "She does. She remembers."

Jack raised his head, looking ahead in time to see the car, it had stopped just before him, it's lights on, horn blaring into the night. Jack could hear emergency sirens in the distance, and noticed just how cold the air had become; as well as how gritty the road was. He felt the grains of sand beneath his feet, pushing at the skin and trying to pile around his feet.

"She remembers being human, being alive, being with her family. Think about it Jack, it's the same as your Guardians have gone through, watching people they cared about grow old and die, except you've met someone who is only at the beginning of the journey. How simply _dreadful."_ The voice dripped in satisfaction, as Jack felt the sand climb his body, rapidly climbing it's way up his legs, his chest and arms until he felt it pressing against his eyelids and lips, which he held firmly shut, hoping desperately the sand would give up. The sand seemed to grow warm, and the heat radiated painfully against what exposed skin Jack had. A particular hot piece of sand pressed against his paln, causing him to gasp in pain, letting the sand flood his mouth until he was spluttering and suffocating on the hot grains. Jack sat up in his bed, clutching at his throat, breathing rapidly; desperate for air. Jack looked at the click, and did some quick mental math to figure out the time ones, before grbabing his staff and running out of of his room. He didn't remember rushing past North, or flying out through his skylight; he really only remembered the quick fly to the little island, where he let the cold air soothe and comfort him. Jack smiled when he noticed the two figures walking towards the little house, but it soon faded, and slipped into a horrified grimace.

" _No_." Jack said,pleading to himself.

The young girl's blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight, and the man next to her seemed to overwhelm the landscape. Jack recognised the two of them, realising what them being here would mean, and he couldn't handle it. Jack was floating in the air, a short distance from them, but they noticed the sudden uplift in the wind. The man continued to walk towards the house, while the young lady's pace slowed.

"No!" Jack shouted, the word spilling from his mouth, as his grip tightened on his staff. The wind sweled around him, and he moved in a sudden quick burst, towards the two of them. Her head turned, and she caught Jack's eyes. Jack heard the word _child_ on the wind, but he ignored it, he was focused. He would stop the man; he at least knew what the man did. He would take someone, he would take someone from the house, one of the few people he had grown attached to. He wasn't sure what the girl did, so he wasn't sure if he would have to stop her as well but he was fairly certain of one thing; he would if it came down to it. Jack heard it again; child. It was the man speaking, he had also stopped, but was not facing Jack. Jack pulled his arms back, ready to swing his staff with as much magic behind it as he could muster, but he felt a force push against his body, and he was thrown back in the air. Jack hurtled to the ground, landing in a pile of soft snow. With barely a moment of pause, he was up again, running at the pair near the house. He hadn't seen her move, but was a lot closer now, and with a flick of her hand, Jack was thrown aside. This continued; Jack would run, then be thrown back, only for him to clamber back to his feet and for it to repeat.

Jack clambered up again, getting to his feet, and facing the girl. He readied his staff, ready to run, when he saw her roll her eyes; exasperated. Jack raised his staff above his head, when he felt his body grow heavy, and felt the same bubble of force push against him, ebbing away against his body until he was on his knees, unable to support himself. He heard the footsteps as she walked over to him, and he was too weak to even speak, to shout at her, to demand answers.

"Jack Frost, do not think for a second that he will not take you, simply because of who and what you are." Her voice was angry, like a parent, or an elder sibling. It hurt Jack, in a way he hadn't felt before. He wanted to apologise, but he wasn't sure what for; he didn't feel bad for wanting to attack them. He felt very confused.

"I-" He tried, but was cut off by another ebb of the force pushing against him, and when he looked up, he was shocked by what he saw. Her skin was as pale as it ever was, but her blonde hair had grown a dirty grey, with a deep black beginning to fade in at the roots. Her eyes were dark, the coloured area had deepened in colour until it was a deep grey, almost black, which seemed to swirl about like water.

"There have been winter spirits before you, who are dead, who no longer exist and never will again in any form. He can and will, end you Jack Frost." She dropped herself to her knees in front of Jack, and rested her hands on her thighs, keeping her eyes on him. Jack stared at the ground, and breathed in deeply when he felt the heaviness subside. His eyelids felt heavy instead, and he struggled to look at her without his eyes falling shut.

"There is one person in this world that has beaten Death, it is not you, and will not be you." She said, looking at Jack.

"Who? I-they-" He felt weak, but he wanted to know. He would find them, ask them for help, ask them for something that could give him an advantage.

"The man who is currently death."

"I just-" But Jack couldn't continue; he felt his body become limp seconds before falling unconscious, and slumping onto his side in the snow. She shook her head and stood up, her hair fading back to it's normal blonde, as she looked out over the snowy landscape.

"You may have to go and warn something that Jack will need a pick up, thank goodness the snow isn't a danger to him." She said out loud, speaking to the wind, and felt it rush past her as it raced to find someone to help. Which thankfully, didn't take very long at all.

The wind found Bunny first, who was busy doinga quick sweep of a field, planning future egg placement when the wind batered against him out of nowhere, shoving him slightly to the side. The papers Bunny had been holding fluttered off into the wind,then seemed to swirl about before gently floating back towards him, stacking themselves neatly as they did. Bunny took the pile in his hands, and looked around.

"Odd trick Frosty, playing with the wind now?" There were no words in response, just the wind tugging at his arms and legs, wanting him to rush. Bunny could feel the desperation, but didn't know where to go. He tapped the ground, and a tunnel opened for him, which he jumped into and raced under the ground, allowing the wind to direct him with gentle tugs and pushes, to where he needed to go. He noticed the soil and air had gotten cold, and found him climbing out of the ground in an area he didn't recognise. It was covered and snow, with air that cut into Bunny's skin, despite his warm fur. Bunny was tugged at again by the wind, more forcefully this time, until he turned and saw the pile of blue and brown fabric in the snow.

"Frosty!" Bunny shouted, racing over the boy, and scooping him up. A tunnel opened up beneath thelarge rabit, and he began the journey to St Nick and the North Pole. Bunny wasn't sure how long Jack had been like that, or really why it had even happened; he had noticed that the snow seemed to fall into a cicle around him, rather than on him. Bunny wondered if the wind had done it, so that he could easily see Jack amongst the thick layer of snow on the ground. It wasn't a concern then, Bunny shook his head and carried on until he found himself in the warm interior of the North Pole.

"North!" Bunny shouted, using a voice he had long forgotten he had.

It was Phil the yeti who reached the room first, followed closely by North, and both were shocked by the sight. Bunny was shivering, his skin having been so deeply penetrated by the cold, and Jack was limp in his arms. Jack wasn't bruised, cut or scratched in any way but was definitely worn out, and needed to rest. The trio moved Jack to his room and settled him into his bed, making sure the covers were tight around him. Phil left the room first, muttering a list of things to do to himself in a langauge Bunny didn't understand; Phil had to get a first aid kit, as well as food and something for Jack to have when he woke up. North stayed in the room to keep an eye on Jack, while Bunny left to let Tooth and Sandy know about what had happened, or what he knew at least. Bunny wanted to know what had happened, and who had caused it, and to show them that messing with Jack was a poor idea. Bunny was not aware but, the person already knew this.

Behind the little house, near some small trees, the little girl and her mother were knelt in the snow, a small hole dug in the dirt. Sniffling, and trying but failing to hold back tears, the little girl lowered the body of Hoppers the rabbit into the hole, and allowed her mother to bury it. The two sat in the snow for some time, holding each other. The mother pulled her daughter closer as grief became to much, and the sobs became louder and more pained.


	14. Chapter 14 - Finding Answers

**Chapter 14**

 _ **Finding Answers**_

It was two days after being brought to the North Pole when Jack woke. He stirred for a moment, before opening his eys slowly, adjusting to the light that flooded the room through the window above the bed. The covers were around his neck, practically covering his ears. Jack pulled his arms free of the blankets, and pulled them down to his stomach, so he could sit up. He felt sore, like a dull ache in his limbs and chest, but he was otherwise uninjured. Slowly, he pulled his body out of the bed and stood up. It didn't hurt as much as he expected, and he was able to open the door and leave the room without his legs wobbling. He was making a habit of turning up to the workshop in a poor state, he was thankful North was so willing to help. He could tell by the colour of the wood, and the smell of the warm air, and his bedroom that he was in the North Pole; somewhere safe. The North Pole's warmth was a different kind of warmth to pure heat; it was a warmth that always smelt welcoming, and seemed to wrap itself around you like a fireplace on christmas eve.

"Is not good joke!" He heard North shout from the next room, and Jack crept into the room slowly, so he wouldn't be seen.

He held back a laugh when he saw the room; red and pink paper hearts had been hung from the ceiling, and balloons in dozens of shades of pink covered the wooden floor of the main room of the building. Fairy lights had been wrapped around the globe, blinking bewteen white and red; they tied the whole thing together.

"No good rabbit!" North shouted, and looked around the room with his hands above his head. There was a chuckle behind Jack, and the winter spirit jumped where he stood, turning around to see Eros leaning in the doorway behind him.

"Not Bunny then?" Jack asked in a whisper.

"Not completely." Eros said, grinning. North heard.

The large man spun around, his eyes wide when he saw Eros.

"Eros, what is joke! Where Bunny!?" North asked, then his eyes seemed to find Jack, as if the boy had just appeared in front of him.

"Jack!" North shouted, beaming. It was a smile that always felt so safe to Jack; he couldn't explain why.

"I thought it was a very good joke, North." Eros said, grinning, as he walked aound the room and took in the decorations.

"More balloons then I expected though."

"The red makes sense, but the pink?" Jack asked. Red was christmas, pink was not.

"Valentines Day!" Eros shouted, spreading his arms above him as he grinned even wider.

"North!" Came Bunny's voice, as a tunnel opened up in the floor, and Bunny climbed out. Jack didn't even think to queston why a warren tunnel could open up in the wooden floor, it just seemed like one of those spirit things he didn't quite understand yet.

"Bunny!" North shouted back. Bunny had a bauble looped over one of his ears, and a string of tinsel wrapped around one foot.

"Watcha playin' at?!" Bunny shouted at North, and two fell into a heated argument. Jack looked over at Eros, who shook his head.

"Someone's tryna get me in trouble, I think." He said, still smiling. Jack looked back at Bunny and North, who were now staring at Eros. North looked more amused now after seeing Bunny, and Bunny looked irritated, though Jack could tell he was holding back a smile.

"You're a nuisance!" Bunny said, shaking the tinsel off his foot.

"Naw Bunny, wasn't me, I just did the red and pink, christmas wasn't me."

"Then who?!" North and Bunny both shouted.

"Oooh Valentines!" Tooth shrieked as she came into the room, followed closely by Sandy, and then Dawn. "Jack you look so well!" Tooth said, rushing over and hugging Jack, before settling herself on a couch nearby.

"You're in a good mood. Jack said, with a chuckle.

"Valentines has lots of candy and chocolate as gifts, we'll be busy in the next few days." Tooth said, and Jack noticed Babytooth sitting on her shoulder. Jack beamed at seeing the little fairy, who flew over and nestled herself inside the pocket on Jack's hoodie.

"Mm, you've recovered quickly, quite a surprise considering…" North and Bunny shot Dawn a nasty look, but Jack simply looked confused. Dawn ignored the looks the others had given her.

"Well, you it's not like you were fighting one of the Guardians, you were fighting someone who-"

"Enough." Tooth said, her voice firm. Motherly, again.

"Who did I-" Jack remembered. He had somehow forgotten why he was in the North Pole. "Oh."

"Jack, who did you fight anyway, you didn't have a single scratch on you, which is an odd fight." Bunny asked. Jack could feel Eros standing nearby, staring at Jack. Did Eros know?

"Er, well the fight wasn't with who I was originally going after." Jack said, wanting to hide. "I went after someone else and she jumped in; she didn't hit me, she never touched me." Jack looked at the floor.

"Feels weird, doesn't it?" Eros said, sitting on a couch near Jack. He didn't sound mad. "Can't blame her though."

"Who-" North had begun.

" I went after Death, but…I still don't know her name; the blonde girl jumped in. She just, wasn't very blonde during it." He could hear the group gasp, minus Dawn and Eros; and Sandy, who was just as shocked as everyone, though he was too quiet for gasping to be useful. Jack felt the hand grip his shoulder; Eros had reached over from his seat, and he gently pulled Jack down. Jack sat beside Eros, staring at the floor.

"She wasn't sure, not completely, if the wind would find someone." Eros said, looking at Bunny and giving a gentle nod. "She was ready to summon someone."

"Hmph, well an apology would be appropriate, wouldn't it?" Dawn asked, and Jack couldn't help himself.

"To me or you?" He snapped at her; he hated how nasty she was.

"Either way, you won't be getting it today; she's busy." Eros said. Jack took a sharp breath; busy on Valentines Day?

"Quick chat?" Eros asked, and Jack nodded. The two of them made their way to where they had talked last time; out in the cold.

"It was the rabbit." Eros said as he leant against the wall.

"Rabbit?"

"Hoppers, that's why they were there."

Jack swallowed, hard. _Oh no._

"I-I, oh no." Jack dropped, and sat on the ground, wrapping his arms around his legs. Something in him had been strung to tight, and he had just felt it snap; it had given up. He felt the tears forming under his eyes, and pressed the sleeves of his hoodie against them to stop the flow.

"I'm not gonna say it was a good idea, but I will say I understand why you did it." Eros said, then looked down at Jack.

"Hey kid, come on." He said, sitting down next to Jack.

"I-I, just, I don't have anyone else. I don't even really have _them_. I thought they were…I thought they were taking them." Jack spoke, his voice breaking up as he did.

"They're a team." Eros said, rubbing Jack's back. "He takes, she… she's got an odd job. I'll guess she hasn't really explained it."

"She said she hasn't been here for long."

"Not very long, no. She collects memories."

"Like Tooth?" Jack was very confused by that.

"Er, kind of? Not really. She collects memories _of_ people, not from them. She keeps them, so they can be used when people are missing someone, or when they feel a little upset or lost; she can give them the good memories of someone. It isn't often she has to fight; barely ever really."

"Not really fighting if you don't touch them." Jack said, a little too bitterly.

"She didn't to fight you, so much as stop you. She knew it wouldn't end well for you if you actually attacked Death, so she stepped in."

"But-"

"Did you properly fight back? Did you, honestly, throw every bit of guardian magic at her that you could?"

Jack didn't answer, he didn't need to.

"I know you didn't, because she is still standing." Jack found that hard to believe; he felt how strong she was. He didn't belive his snow, his ice, anything he had could break through that strange bubble. It wasn't even the power, it was the anger behind it; her hair, her eyes, how quickly she moved. He hadn't really tried he supposed, he hadn't thrown it all into his first blow, he had tried to but had been caught off guard by her attack. No, it wasn't an attack, it was a defense. Jack didn't know why she had defended Death so strongly; everyone said it was for Jack's benefit, but was it? Jack was fairly sure he was dead, he hadn't been told a definite yes or no, but it was the only thing he could decide on that made sense. She wasn't dead though; not like he was. She remembered it, everything from before she was who she was now. Jack looked up at the sky and sighed, his head was buzzing with so much but none of it was important, or helpful.

"Only one." Jack whispered to himself, not quietly enough.

"One what?" Eros asked.

"That's what she said, only one person has ever beaten Death."

Eros chuckled and stood up, and stretched his arms above his head.

"She's a chatterbox around you, isn't she? Makes sense I suppose." Eros mused for a moment. "it wasn't so much beaten in a fighting sense, more of a…game? Match of wits? Not sure what you'd call it. Maybe ask him yourself."

"Ask him?!" Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Jack, despite what people believe, he isn't a bad guy. He has a job much like the rest of us, his just happens to a harsh reality for many. Just try, he'll understand why it happened."

"How do I even find him? She's hard enough to find."

"That's on purpose though. Idunno, find a dead person I guess." Eros laughed, then looked at Jack seriously. "Maybe don't do that, that's kinda… yeah don't, and don't tell the others I suggested it."

The two of them wondered back inside, and Eros said his goodbyes before departing with a final grin at the balloons, though many had been cleaned up now. Jack said his farewells as well, telling the others the day had wiped him out more than planned, and he wanted to sleep for a bit. The others were pleased, if a bit suspicious, by this and said their goodnights. Jack didn't want to rest here, not yet, so off he wondered, leaving through the window in his bedroom to avoid the others and their questions, and off he went to the one place he thought might help; Burgess Hospital.

Jack hadn never really been in a hsopital before; he didn't like it much after all. It was cold in a way that made Jack shudder, and smelt odd; a mixture of chemicals, and bodily fluids. Jack wandered around for a bit, and in his wandering, made a mistake. The room Jack found himself in was a mess of blood, where someone had been moved to urgent care by the staff, leaving the room empty.

'Auh!" Jack was startled by the sight, he felt his skin prickle as he stood in the doorway, unable to look away from the stain.

"Not a fan of blood?" Came the voice behind him, and Jack turned to see the man he was looking for; but was not excited to have found him.

"O-oh, er, no not really." Jack admitted.

"Not many are, takes a strong person to stomach working around it. What else bothers you?" The man asked, stepping into the room and lowering himself into a seat in the back corner.

"Oh um, not much; water I guess?" Jack stood still in the doorway; he hadn't brought his staff, he could ride the winds without it. He thought perhaps approaching without a weapon would be a good idea; though he regretted it.

"What is it ice is made from again?" The man asked, his voice amused.

"Water." Jack was embarassed.

"I don't mean to be nasty my child, nor do I mean to pry, but water?"

"I don't know why, always have, especially deep water." Jack said, his mind drifting back to the young girl falling over the ledge. Jack thought to himself that now was not the time, he had come here to do something, and the hardest part seemed to be here.

"I wan-" Jack began, but the man held up a hand.

"My child, there is no need for an apology or for forgiveness on anyone's part. I admit I was a little startled by your actions, but never angry or upset. There has been some…explanation given to me, so I understand there is a certain attachment to the family." The man placed his hand on the lap, and smiled at Jack, almost; Jack thought it was a smile.

"I didn't know she could fight." Jack blurted out.

"Either did I, truthfully. There is only so much I do know about her."

"Which is?" Jack asked, and Death laughed.

"I know she does not like me, and she does not like being what she is."

"I-I think I saw someone she knows." Jack said, leaning against the doorframe. He felt tired.

"Oh? She has not mentioned anyone; though I believe she does remember her human life."

"Is she dead?" The words tumbled out, and Jack couldn't stop them.

Death was silent, but it wasn't a tense silence; he was thinking.

"That is perhaps, not my answer to give. Is there anything else you'd like to know, my child?"

 _Lots._

"She said you were the only one to beat, well, you? To beat Death."

"Ah, did she? Unlike her to be so talkative. I suppose it was more of a warning at the time?" He asked, and Jack nodded. Death shook his head and looked out of the window of the hospital room. The staff had come back, Jack had tried hard not to wince when they passed through him but Death had noticed. He did not comment on it however.

"Would you like to hear the story?" Death asked, facing away from Jack. He knew when Jack nodded, and turned back to face the boy.

"Well then, we will start, when I died."

"The story starts with you dying?" Jack didn't mean to sound rude; it was just a habit for him.

Death chuckled, and leant back in the chair.

"It begins with what happened afterwards; when I woke up."


	15. Chapter 15 - My Beloved

**Chapter 15**

 _My Beloved_

"Ooh, watch yourself!" The older woman exclaimed; she smiled when the young man stopped to help her pick up the things she had dropped from her basket. "Oh thank you young man, very kind."

"Least I can do, so sorry about that. Head in the clouds today!" The young man grinned; he was handsome, with an angular face and dark hair that hung past his shoulders in a messy ponytail. The two said their goodbyes and parted ways. He smiled to himself, rolling a small pile of coin in the palm of his hand. That was how he spent his time, building his fortune a small amount at a time, he was almost there. His goal, as it had been for some time, was to gather up the coin to purchase a gift for his beloved. The ultimate gift; a ring so fine any woman of royalty would be jealous.

Today had gone incredibly well, and he now had enough for the ring, as well as some flowers for his lady. He had dressed up exceptionally well today, to ensure he'd get the best service possible in the jewellery store. He was no the same class as his lady, though she loved him as if he was a king; her beloved. He pushed the door open and made his way into the store, and spent the next hour or so perusing and finally, purchasing the ring, and a bouqet of beautiful flowers on his way to his lady's house. He heard the rumble of thunder, and grumbled as he felt the drops of rain begin to splash his neck and arms. The young man pulled his coat tighter around his body and quickened his pace. He was aiming for sunset; it had to be the perfect moment. He heard a cry from a walk way nearby, a little alley tucked between two shops. He slowed as he passed by and saw two of the towns guards and a young woman, who didn't seem very happy with them. One of the guards had grabbed her satchel, and was trying to take it from her, with her trying to fight him off. He stopped just past the alley, and groaned to himself, as he pocketed the ring and ducked into the alley.

"Come on gentlemen, surely she's not done anything wrong." He said, flashing his grin.

"Naw, pesky things got her fingers all over the place." One of them replied, while the other managed to snatch the satchel finally.

"This little thing?" He asked, looking at the woman. "Surely not!"

He wandered a little closer and he was not expecting her to move, and so suddenly. She grabbed him, and he felt a pain in his back before she shoved him towards the guards. The guard who was holding onto the satchel quickly dropped it to catch the man, and help lower him to the floor. The young man coughed, and felt something warm in his mouth; his back ached, it felt incredibly hot. He was panicking, but didn't have the energy in him to show it. He felt weak already and knew it was coming so incredibly quickly. He looked at the guard as he helped the man lay on the ground, tucking his guards coat under the mans head. The guard was a young man, not much younger than his self, with thick blonde hair and soft blue eyes. He heard the footsteps fade as the woman, and the other guard, ran from the alley.

"Have-have you-" He tried to speak, but coughed again. The warmth was metallic now.

"Pardon? Come on fella, you can do it. We'll get ya some help."

"Have you got someone special? A beloved?" He managed to push the words out.

"I, yes, yes I have. We are due to wed in spring, it's not far off now." The guard watched the young man, his blue eyes shaking.

"You bought her a ring? A brilliant ring, to match how beautiful you think she is?"

"I, I had hoped to but, money did not work out as planned. She says she does not mind, but I would love to show her truly, what beauty she is to me."

The young man pawed at his pocket until he felt the ring box, and pushed it into the guards hands, which he felt were shaking. He saw the colour from the corner of his eyes; the bouqet had fallen to the ground, and would becom dirty from the rain hitting the dirt on the ground.

"Show her. Give it to her, say you saved for an age and a half, tell her how you feel." He said, breathing in with pain filling his chest. "I was trying to help, what a foolish thing. I haven't done it before."

"Next time I shall remind you not to." The guard said, trying to push the ring box away, but could not. The young man laughed, a heart chuckle that hurt his chest and throat, until he realied it no longer hurt, and he was no longer cold, or wet, or in pain. He opened his eyes, which he hadn't realised he had been holding shut, and got to his feet. He was dry, in clothes that were somehow free of any blood and dirt. He walked out of the alley, and was confused to see that the streets were empty, apart from someone on a bench near the town square. He walked over to the bench; confused that despite walking in the pouring rain, he stayed dry. It was dark, he had missed the sunset. She would be worrying about him, and may go out to try and find him. He hoped she wouldn't see him how he was before he woke up, he wanted her to remember him differently.

"You took longer than I thought, come now, there are others waiting." The old man said, slowly rising from his seat.

"Then go to them, what do you need me for?" The young man asked, suddenly very angry. He had wanted to help someone, he didn't know why, and it had gotten him killed. Surely he was dead? He had felt the knife, and he had felt his body give up.

"You can not be left here, come now."

"Why not?"

"It is not how things work here."

"So, I can not see her again?" He asked, it's all he wanted.

"She will not be able to see you." The old man warned.

"But I will see her, and that is what I want."

The old man nodded, and snapped his fingers. The young man blinked, and found himself inside the police station. He could hear her, wailing, in another room. He followed the sounds, and slowly, walked into the room that was nearby. She was curled up in an armchair, with the young blonde officer sitting in a chair next to her. He was holding the ring box, and had held it out to her, for her to take. He was explaining what had happened, and that he simply couldn't take it. She held her hands out, and the young man wanted to scream at her not to, he had given it to him, he had!

"It seemed important to him for my beloved to have it, but I did not earn it, it is not mine."The blonde officer said, and her hands stopped.

"He said what?" She asked in a whimper. "Your beloved?"

"Y-yes, that's the word he used."

She stared at the box, and slowly used her hands to close his around it and pushed it back towards him.

"I can not say I have ever known that man to be truly selfless, and I dread to think what he did to get the money together. If that is what he said, in those words, then I truly believe he wanted you to have this ring, and for you to give it to someone that you love." The blonde guard nodded his head, and left the room, he had the start of tears forming under his own eyes. The young man sat where the other man just had been, and rested his elbows on his knees, while he looked at his love. Gorgeous; blonde, with pale skin, and the bluest eyes he had ever seen on another human being.

"Oh my beloved, you do know me after all; I had been so worried. Isn't he a lovely young man? I-I'm sorry, I truly just was trying to help. Don't forget me, but don't keep yourself from others. I want you to be happy. I shall miss you my dear, forever."

With that, he was back in the street, with the old man. The old man looked impatient, which the young man was glad for.

"There is no forever, you do not need to worry about that."

"I want to."

"You do no-"

"I want to see her, whenever I want, for however long I can." The man was determined for this; he wanted this.

"You want to become Death then? As that is the only role that will allow you that ability." The old man asked; confirming what the young man had suspected.

"I want to know she lives happy, and dies having lived the life she wanted."

The old man sighed, and looked at the sky; it was dark, and all they could see were the stars and moon. He shooked his head, and held out a clear orb; it was made of glass, which seemed to be filled with golden sand. The sand was bright as it rolled about inside the glass ball.

"You have one out; when you no longer desire this role, and wish to move on to the other side, you break the orb. Keep in mind, this will force someone else to take your place, someone who may not be ready."

"So it might force someone to die?"

"Yes, in this case, it has already happened." With that, the old man dropped the orb, and within seconds it smashed open against the cobblestone street. The old man disappeared into a cloud of golden sand, and drifted off into the wind, as the sand from the orb floated over to the young man. It spun around his feet, and slowly rose upwards, spinning faster and faster as it climbed higher and higher up the mans body.

It is said that the process one takes to become Death is one that nobody would ever relive willingly; it said to be one of the most painful, and horrendously emotionally and mentally scarring processes. It is also said, that for some, the process is one that is full of pleasure, a process that they would relive as much as they could, if given the ability to do so. This was the case for the young man; the process that granted him the powers of death, was one he would remember for as long as he was able to have memories. He awoke once again, in the street, with people milling about him, walking through him. He spun on his heel, and raced through the street, hoping to see her before he would have to go to work.

"Did you see her?" Jack asked, he was sitting on the ground, legs crossed like a child being read a story in class.

"I did, every morning and night until she remarried, and on nights her and her beloved were together, I gave them privacy." Death said.

"S-she had another-" Jack was confused, and a little upset; but why?

Death simply smiled at Jack. "I had hoped she would, she should not live her life wanting someone she can not have. She had her husband, some children, and they had children. The family continued on and are out there somewhere in the world, doing what they enjoy, which is what I wanted."

"Have you ever wanted to break it?"

"Truly, no. Some people are born for a role, or a job, or title. I was born for this, I truly believe this about myself."

"What about me?"

"What about yourself, child?"

"Is that why I died? If I did die. Is it because the old winter spirt gave up? I don't remember anything from before, why is that? She can remember it." The look that Death gave in response to the question, was a mixture of pity and anger.

"Listen to me my cold child; the ability to surrender your powers is given only to Death. Other spirits are not given this ability, the method in which you surrender, is much more difficult, and worlds more painful. You do not simply stop being; there is a process. As for why you are here, I can not say; it really depends on the manner in which you pass, some are chosen upon a spirit's death, and some die in a manner where the world believes it to be unfair, so they try to return you some sense of living, though many dislike it. Some more so than others."

Death stood from his chair, and raised a hand.

" I believe you are needed my child, something is not right." With that, Death snapped his fingers, and Jack was outside in the snow. He realised he was outside of the North Pole, and could hear shouting from inside. It was almost dark again, he must have been talking to Death for some time. Jack hurried inside and followed the noises to the main area of the workshop, where the globe sat, and found the Guardians in a panic. Tooth was on the floor, a mess of crumbled feathers and what Jack thought was blood. He stood close, watching the group in a rush to care for Tooth, when North turned and saw him.

"Jack! Where been?" North demanded, worried and angry.

"I-I, was talking to-" Jack tried, but someone cut him off.

"The kid's fine, don't worry bout him." The voice was rushed, and Jack saw the blonde hair behind the group.

"He was gone for bloomin' ages!" Bunny started, but stopped after what must have been a nasty stare.

"He was busy!" She snapped back, and stepped over Tooth gently, looking at Jack.

"What happened?" Jack asked, usually the wind would get him if there was trouble.

"A group of nightmares decided to attack the tooth palace, of their own accord apparently. Poorly planned but they were desperate, and desperation is powerful. They wanted the memory boxes, they weren't fussed by the fairies. Who's coming then?" She asked, looking at the group.

"Where?" Jack asked.

"The Palace." She answered, not looking away from the others, and rolled her eyes. No one had moved to stand with her.

"Kid it is." She said.

"What?" Jack asked, and felt her grab his arm, and he blinked.

He opened his eyes to see the Tooth Palace, and her.

"Good chat?" She asked, making her way down a flight of stairs, followed closely by Jack.

"Uhh.."

"I know where he was, I was looking for him, and was rudely told to come back later."

"By who, his secretary?" Again, Jack hadn't meant to be rude. She laughed at Jack's question.

"Oddly enough, everyone seems to think that's my job."

"But…you have a job, don't you?"

"Mmm, sure do, and apparently you've been very persistent in asking about it. Did you get your answer?"

"Kind of. He explained bits, avoided other bits, and refused to answer the rest."

"Ah, sounds like him. Good to hear he hasn't gone soft. You were gone awhile apparently."

"Yeah, it didn't feel like that long. I guess I got lost in the story."

"What story? He's not much of a story teller."

"His story? I guess, how he became Death."

She didn't look back at Jack as they continued to climb down the steps, heading to the bottom of the Tooth Palace, towards the grounds.

"Huh, surprised he told it to you so quickly."

"Did he take a while to tell you?"

"Oh, he didn't have to."

"He-what, why?"

"I work with memories, which he likely told you; the person doesn't have to be dead and gone for me to see them." Jack stopped following, and stared after her as she carried on down the steps, hen stopped roughly ten steps below him. She looked back up at him.

"Coming kid?"

"You can see them?"

"Yes."

"That's not fair, they're personal!" Jack was upset, and he wasn't doing a good job of hiding it.

"Kid, I-"

"You can't just look! Not everyone can remember their old life, not everyone can remember their family; it isn't fair! We aren't all so lucky!"

"Stop yelling, and let me speak! You are not a child Jack Frost, do not act like one." She moved to step back up towards him, but before either of them could react, something flew in between them; the large black shape of a nightmare. There was a violent whinny from the creature, which kicked outwards in either direction, missing Jack, but striking the girl. Jack heard her shout as she flew backwards, off of the steps, and headed towards the ground. Jack followed; he threw himself off the edge for the wind to catch him, and flew towards the ground.

She had fallen too quickly and was lying in the green grass below, near a small pond. Jack landed beside her and fell to his knees; she wasn't moving, not even a rise and fall in her chest. The movement behind him was loud, and stopped a short disatnce away. Jack turned to see a group of nightmares circled around them, with Pitch standing amongst them. Pitch's form felt even larger than normal, and possibly even blacker. The darkness he was made of seemed denser than the last time Jack saw him. Jack rose to his feet, staff in hand, and kept his eyes on Pitch.

"You've already got your box Jack; whatever are you doing here?" Pitch asked, arms behind his back.

"Honestly, no idea; didn't have much choice this time."

"Ah, is she dragging a child about with her now? Didn't strike me as a babysitter, nor did she strike me as so _weak._ "

Jack's back straightened, and his grip tightened around his staff but he didn't move. He wouldn't be baited.

"A simple fall? She should have stood up and brushed it off; though perhaps that's a Guardian skill only. No matter, it'll be easy enough to get rid of both of you while I'm here. Two birds, one stone, all that nonsense." Pitch said, and began stepping towards Jack. Jack and Pitch felt it at the same time, an odd heaviness, and Jack thought it felt familiar.

It was stronger than last time, much stronger, but the feeling was familiar. The wave of energy flew outwards as a bubble, pushing against Jack, Pitch and the nightmares; which were pushed backwards and broken into a flurry of sand grains, which feel to the ground. Pitch groaned; a combination of pain, annoyance and a distasteful feeling he had whenver a nightmare was destroyed. He poured himself into creating each one, and when one was destroyed, it pained him. She stood, slowly, until she was standing straight. Her hair was still blonde, her eyes hadn't changed, and it was worrying Jack.

"Ah, I was wrong then, partly. You've certainly become a hot topic amongst the Guardians recently; speaking to Death are we , Jack?" Pitch asked, and Jack could feel the mocking in his voice.

"Maybe, what's it to you?" Jack asked.

"Why do you think people are so frightened of Death? I know much of his activities, he has never really been one to hide what he is doing."Pitch pulled a hand from behind his back; in it was a memory box. Jack had his, so it wasn't his; he looked to her, and realised. She didn't look worried, or angry, she looked quite emotionless.

"Mine? That's a little dull, isn't it?" She asked.

"Maybe, but it is fair. You know his after all, or you will; why shouldn'the know yours?"

"Why would he want to?" She asked.

"You do know; I can't believe it!" Jack snapped, looking at her. She rolled her eyes, and sighed.

"Jack-" She tried.

"Jack, she knows the memories of each and every person, through someone's memories of them. She knows them; they are in her head at all times, but she can not always see them. Yours have not surfaced yet, due to quite a fight on her side, but she will slip. Whether out of curiousity or not." With that, Pitch threw the box, and Jack caught it without thinking so that it wouldn't hit the ground.

"I don't want to, they're not mine." Jack said, but he felt the sand around his fingers push, and felt the button click as they pressed against it. Jack gasped, as his surroundings turned a bright white.


	16. Chapter 16 - Time to Practice

**Chapter 16**

 ** _Time to Practice_**

 _It was winter, and the snow had built up heavily while she was in school during the day, and then even more during the class. Avery had finished her dance class exactly on time that night and had been picked up by her older sister; Sarah. Sarah was her big sister, and the pair were like two peas in a pod. Avery was looking out of her window in the car; watching the snow flurry past as they left he side road and joint the traffic on the busier stretch of main road. She liked sitting in the front, Sarah always let her, but she wasn't meant to tell Mum and Dad._

 _"I wish it hadn't snowed so much today, the roads are awful when it's like this." Sarah was mumbling to herself. Avery looked over; she was sorry that she'd had dance that day, she normally didn't._

 _"Don't worry kid, I said I'd pick you up. Mum and Dad are away until tomorrow so it's sister night. I said I'd get us a special treat tonight hey? How do we feel about pizza for dinner? Or maybe sushi, or-" Sarah smiled while she spoke, waiting for the question._

 _"You said there was a surprise! What is it?" Avery asked, practically bouncing in her seat. There it was._

 _"Didn't you see it already?" Sarah asked, innocently."It's in the back."_

 _Avery turned in her seat and saw the box on the back seat; it was wrapped in metallic christmas wrapping paper. She had thrown her dance bag into the back seat and not even seen it. She looked at Sarah and got a smile and nod, before she excitedly reached for the box. Her hands grabbed the box and she pulled it onto her lap._

 _She felt the car jerk to the side as she turned herself back to face the front window, and she dropped the present onto the floor in front of her seat. Sarah's hands were moving fast on the wheel as she tried to get them out of the way, and Avery saw Sarah's panicked face as she turned to face her sister. Sarah grabbed Avery and held her close to her own body, as the truck collided with the driver's side of the little car that Sarah had only gotten recently. The noise was deafening, but seemed to cut off quickly, and everything seemed to go quiet. It was the ringing in her ears that Sarah noticed first, followed by her opening her eyes and looking around._

 _She coughed and felt her chest shoot pain up towards her shoulders. She let out a groan as she rolled to her side, trying to focus on everything around her. The car had rolled into a ditch and had gotten stuck in the snow, it was sitting with it's front buried in the snowbank. Her side of the car had been pushed in, and she felt the metal pushing against her leg, close to her ankle. She reached out into the car, searching for her sister. She felt the fabric of Avery's skirt and tugged on it._

 _"Avery, hey, you there?" She asked, hoping for something in reply. She heard a weak cough and felt the fabric shift, and felt Avery's hand find hers. She squeezed tight on the little hand and felt how cold it was. "You're alright kid, you're fine."_

 _"My head hurts." Her younger sister moaned, curling up to Sarah's hand. Sarah groaned as she pulled herself closer to her sister. Ignoring the pain in her chest, she pulled her coat off and laid it over her sister. The girl was only wearing her dance tights and leotard. The windows had smashed open in the accident, and the snow was creeping into the car. Sarah pulled her sister closed, holding the jacket to the younger girl's body. The pain in Sarah's chest had numbed, and she felt her eyes flutter shut for a second. Lights and sirens in the distance caught her attention and she held tight to her sister. Sarah let her eyes close, and let her hands relax, though she kept them on Avery's. She just had to keep Avery warm until the emergency people got to them. She let herself relax, and let herself slip into a sleep she didn't realise she needed so badly._

 _She didn't know how long it had been when she opened her eyes and found she was standing in the hallway of a hospital; the hospital in the town next to where she lived. Sarah walked down the hall until she heard a familiar sound; her sister's crying. Sarah ran down the hall, calling out to Avery that she was coming, and not to worry. Why had they left her in the hallway? Perhaps she had wanted some space, maybe she had wandered off and forgotten. She ran into the room and stopped herself by grabbing the doorway with her hands. She scanned the room to find her Mum, Dad and Sarah sitting together. Her Mum and Dad had dried tears on their faces, while Avery was visibly sobbing against her Mother. Sarah sat down next to her sister and stared at the hospital bed. She saw herself laying in the bed; a mess of tubes and wires were coming from her body. She was bruised and bloody, obviously hurt from the crash._

 _"Hey, hey kiddo, it's gonna be alright. Don't cry over this, come on." She said, reaching out to Avery and rubbing her shoulder. Avery seemed to calm down, and was able to hold back the sobs. Sarah was glad at this and was able to ignore the sensation that ran up her arm when it passed through her sister._

The world around him went white and blurred again, and Jack opened his eyes to find he was once again standing near the little pond at the Tooth Palace. He dropped the memory box with a gasp, and it landed in the grass, with Jack sinking to his knees next to it. He closed his eyes but all he could see was the snow, and the blaring lights of the truck. He could hear the sounds as the truck hit the little car, and the sound as it swerved and hit the snow bank. His snow, his beautifully soft, clean snow, so cold; it was the worst thing in that moment. So dangerous and ugly.

"Kid, it wasn't you." He heard the voice, but didn't look at it.

"Don't ignore me."She said and Jack looked over, his body shaking, and saw her sitting at the edge of the pond. He slowly made his way over, and sat next to her, staring at the water.

"It wasn't you."

"But- I've been in this for hundreds of years now, three hundred years; it had to be me."

"You don't control each and every flake, and you don't control where the wind or people move them to. It was just, bad luck." She said, pausing a little between words.

"I'm so-"

"Don't apologise for it kid, you never really had it explained to you. I try not to, as Dawn's first reaction was quite similar but more… shouty I suppose. She's good at whispering in ears as well, as I found out."

"What do you mean?"

"Death was the first one I met, and he kind of explained it all to me. Eros met me sometime in my second or third year and he's just kinda… stuck around. I suppose we're a stray kitten to each other, both needed some saving, neither really wanted it."

Jack nodded, and neither of them spoke. Jack didn't feel like asking where Pitch had gone, he likely left, hoping for them to end one another in his absence. She laid back and spread her arms out into the grass, running the fingers over the green blades. Jack raised his head and looked over the pond, and noticed just how many fairies had been buzzing by, busy working while their mother was away. He had never seen Toothiana hurt before, she was always the one looking after the others, after him.

"What were your parents like?" Jack asked whispering, he didn't feel like he should ask.

Her eyes were shut, and her body had sunk into the soft green grass; she didn't open her eyes, or seem to hear Jack. Jack shook his head and looked back at the water, it rippled gently whenever a fairy flew too close, the tiny wind made by their wings using against the surface.

"Dad worked a lot, Mum travelled a lot for work and family, my Nan was sick so Mum would help her with doctors visits and stuff. i never really paid attention to any of it, I was too young to be any help, she passed away when I was eight or so, maybe nine. no eight, she passed away a little while after my sister was born."

"Were you two close?"

"Inseparable, honestly. We were two peas in a pod, always with some little secret or some game we wanted to play."

"Did you do dance as well? did she get into it because of you?"

Jack wasn't expecting her to laugh so loudly, but she did, and it warmed Jack's chest. 

"Oh gods no, I was awful at it, I was never good at anything graceful." Jack opened his mouth to say something, but closed it quickly, looking at the water with an intensity, hiding his embarrassment. She sensed it, but didn't comment; only cast a smirk at Jack which he didn't see.

"She was a natural, it was incredible. Mum and Dad worked so hard for her t be able to take classes, the school was good, and very expensive. It was worth it though, to see her on that stage. She had wanted that role since she first saw it herself when she was a kid."

"How old were you when it-"

"Eighteen I think? No seventeen I would have been."

"Oh. How old is she now? She doesn't look very old."

"She'd still be in school, she better be anyway. I think she'd be about sixteen."

"So you're twenty three now." Jack said, looking at her, to see she was scowling at him.

"You're a right brat at times, yes, I would be twenty three."

"Why does it make me a brat?" Jack asked, faking offense. She grinned at it.

"You're just so bloody nosy."

Jack smiled, and the two fell silent again. It was a silence that Jack felt mostly okay with, but there was a slight weariness to it, as if the two didn't know what to do.

"How old was I?" Jack whispered. 

"Kid-"

"You can see it though. I wan-"

"Then go look for yourself. I don't care you've seen mine, I would've preferred if you hadn't but, oh well, too bad so sad I suppose. I'm not gonna look at yours kid. I don't enjoy doing it." She stood up, and looked over the water, at the view that extended beyond the water and looked down at Jack. Her eyes had gone weird again, and Jack felt nervous.

"You held back." She said.

"What?"

"At that little house, Eros explained it all after. You held back on me."

"I was just-" Jack started, and saw her eyebrow raise, which annoyed him.

"What should I have done? I wasn't expecting you to do anything! I didn't think you could fight, at all, and I just kind of lost it. The weird bubble thing throws me off as well."

"You will eventually face off with one of the most cruel, and most evil things on this planet, you can't hold back. Have you ever really fought? Don't look at me like that, I mean it; have you ever struck something more than some sand with your ice? North made you a staff, and it is going to be the most beautiful feeling when you truly use it, but you need to be able to push past your mind not wanting to do it."

"W-will it-" He didn't want to say it. She watched him, waiting for him to say it. he sighed, and felt his voice shake as he did. "Will it kill them?"

"If you want it to."

He didn't want that; he didn't want to actually end anyone. He just wanted Pitch to stop, somehow; without it being so drastic. He felt he hand on his shoulder, and wasn't surprised that when he opened his eyes, he was in a different place. It was a large empty field of beautiful green grass, with wildflowers spotted about. It was gorgeous, and Jack had fallen in love with the peaceful silence of the area. It was chilly but the sun gave enough warmth so that it wasn't uncomfortable. He saw a blob of black heading towards him, and he dodged, just in time. The black coat hit the grassy floor and landed in a messy pile. Jack looked up and saw she had walked a little bit away from him; she was wearing black jeans and a grey singlet that was almost form fitting.

"Uhhh..." Jack was very confused, and distracted himself by spinning his staff in one hand.

"Time to learn kid; not in the most pleasant way. We'll play a game, it'll make it a little more fun. Tag?"

Jack smiled, and was a little cocky in his smirk, maybe too cocky. It was fine, it'd help.

"We're going to test how strong your new staff is."

"What?"

"I am going to try and take it from, and try my damn hardest to snap it in half."

"What! Why?!" Jack was startled by this, and was unsettled when he noticed just how dark her hair had become. When had it happened?

"Because then you've got no real chance of stopping me digging through your head, and finding all your memories, all the good ones; and taking them."

"Okaaay, how do I get them back?"

"You don't. You stop me from getting them in the first place."

"How do I do that?" Jack asked, setting his feet into a bracing position. He blinked, and she was gone. Jack heard the footstep behind him seconds before she touched him; he jumped back just in time to see her hair for a second before he blinked and she was gone again. This carried on, with her getting close and Jack moving with seconds to spare. He rolled to the side to avoid her, and felt her fingertips graze against his wrist.

Jack shook his head when he stood and decided to try something new; not blinking. It strained and hurt, when he tried to keep his eyes open. He felt the tears, but he saw her, across the field, moving towards him. she was running, at an incredible pace, but he could see her. The ebb of energy hit him, and he feel backwards, laying on his back in the grass.

"Did you figure it out?" He heard her yelling from across the field; she was enjoying this.

"You sound like you're having fun!" Jack yelled back, getting to his feet. "You sound like someone else I know." He continued; his breathing was pained, he was getting tired. Her speed wasn't so much the problem, it was more how she moved.

"Really?" She asked, she had walked closer, but was standing still. "Pitch?" She asked, knowing the answer already. Jack simply stared at her, trying to keep his eyelids from falling. He wanted so badly to close his eyes, the dust was hurting.

"I don't think I'm that much like Pitch. You're still alive aren't you?" She asked, grinning. "No, actually, he wouldn't kill you. he isn't like that. If Pitch could take all the memories you like, all the memories you treasure so badly. What would he do?"

"I-"

"He would own you, Jack Frost." With that, she began moving again. Her hair was a solid black now, and her eyes had become a mirror of it. It was like looking at the eyes of Pitch Black, and it frightened Jack. Without even thinking, his eyes closed, only for a second. When they opened, she was close; Jack pulled his staff back, only to keep it from her grasp. It was training, she wouldn't do it; would she? He wouldn't forget any of it; would he? Would he forgot Jamie? Would he forget he was Guardian? The realisation struck Jack, and he swung his staff forward without even thinking, and felt the force as the beam of ice and snow shot from the end. It was a deafening noise as the magic flew from the staff, striking her and throwing her backwards. He knew when it made contact with her, he could feel an odd warmth in his hands that travelled from his hands, through the rest of his body, and settled in his chest.

 _Again._

His body pleaded for the feeling again, and he tried to silence it, he wanted to run, he wanted to drop the staff and never touch it again. How could he want to do it again? He saw her stand up, as if it unaffected by this blast, and something in him snapped. He swung the staf quickly, sending off three quick blasts with his weapon; he had never considered it a weapon before. Each blast made contact with her, sending that warmth into his body again and again. He watched her, and grew worried when she didn't move. He began to walk towards then, then a little faster, until he was beside her body. She was laying still,on her side in the grass with her eyes closed. Jack was worried when he noticed her hcest wasn't rising and falling with breath, and he knelt beside her, ready to call for help from the Guardians. He also noticed now that she wasn't wearing her coat, that her arms and neck were covered in lots of tiny, thin cuts; scars that had healed over into thin white lines. What had he done? Jack was full of panic; he hadn't meant to hurt her. Not really.

He wasn't expecting her to move; her arm rose while the rest of her stayed motionless, and her hand wrapped around the base of Jack's staff, where it was leaning into the ground. One of her eyes opened up slowly, and focused on Jack; she was smiling. Jack 's eyes widened and he stared at her, he didn't know what to do.

"What's wrong, kid?"


	17. Chapter 17 - Facing a Fear

**Chapter 17**

 _ **Facing a Fear**_

They had parted ways, and Jack was now at the North Pole, in bed a few days later. He wasn't asleep, he was laying on top of the covers, hands under his head while he stared at the ceiling. The room was cool, with a cold breeze coming through the open window, and Jack was comfortable; physically, more so than emotionally. She had said he'd done alright, not well, not good; just alright. He thought he had done a bit better than just alright, but she must have seen how upset he was at the end, he really thought he had hurt her. He had wanted to, during the fight, but afterwards it had waned an faded until he was wracked with guilt for having hit her. Jack could still remember how that warmth in his hand had felt; rewarding, and sickeningly nice. Is that what she had meant when she said it would feel good? She said they could do it again, if he wanted, though he didn't think she'd be happy if he said no. The memory of the warmth wasn't enough, he wanted the real thing again, but he hated what he had to do to feel it. He was delaying leaving for their meeting in the field; he hadn't really decided if he wanted to go.

He decided yes at the last minute, and made it just as she was getting ready to leave. Jack dropped into the lush field and looked at her; blonde hair and normal eyes. He sighed out of relief, he wasn't ready yet for when she was different. It always made him feel uneasy.

"New plan kiddo." She said, seeing him.

"Oh, fantastic. After I thought the old one worked so well." Jack said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. He had meant it this time.

"Oof someone's in a mood, knock it off. I said you did a good job, didn't I?"

"You said I did an alright job. Was it alright or good?" There was a pause after his question, and Jack hoped for god. He didn't know why he cared so much what she thought.

"It was alright."

"Oh."

"New plan though; you're going to think of something for me."

"Okay?"

"You're going to think of a memory, you don't want anyone to see. Someone personal, maybe embarassing; something that you _do not_ want others to see." Jack noticed a stick near her feet, roughly the same length as his staff, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Were you practicing?" He asked, teasing.

"No idea how you can spin it so much without your hands hurting, I've given up on it for now." Jack had to laugh; she sounded like a child. It reminded him of Jamie, when he couldn't get something right on the first go.

"So you're going after my staff again?"

"No, just you. I only need to touch you to see the memory."

"Why? I don-"

"Once I have seen it, then it is sort of in the open – what if Death saw it? Bunny? Pitch?" The last name struck Jack; it would be another weapon against him. Pitch hadn't succeeded yet in destroying im physically, but emotionally, or mentally wouldn'tbe hard. Jack already felt frail. He looked, and saw she was already gone.

"Oh for-"He started, and rolled forward just in time, feeling her hands brush his hoodie. They began again, much like last time, with Jack managing to narrowly avoid her as she appeared and disappeared. Jack was better at it this time, having somewhat figured out how she moved, but he still took risks in dodging too late. He caught sight of her, across the field, she wasn't moving.

"New idea!" She shouted, using the stick to draw a long line in the grass; dragging up dirt as she did. She threw the stick aside and gestured to the line.

"Hit me hard enough to knock me past the line, and you get a treat!"

"Oh good, maybe she'll end me so I can stop this." Jack muttered to himself. "What do I get then?" He called over to her.

"I'll give a detail; a little snippet of a memory of your old life." She called back, and moved. The words echoed in Jack's head. Could she? She'd see all of though; only to give him a small bit? He wanted it though, and he'd get it. He tightened his grip on his staff, and threw himself back into the fight. The two of them moved faster than they had before, and reaches for jack were becoming more often, and closer. He could feel her pull at his hoodie and the hem of his pants, but she had yet to touch his skin. Jack dodged, and continued to do so, until he saw it. She was a good distance from him, not yet moving; he decided it was now or never. Jack swung his staff, and focused on what he wanted; to remember.

The warmth was even stronger than last time; he felt hot as it travelled from his hands to the rest of his body, once again settling in his chest. He couldn't see her, she had gone past the line and apparently over an embankment Jack hadn't noticed til now. He raced down the embankment and looked out for her, but he didn't see her, or anyone else in the field, all he saw was a river.

"No." Jack said outloud, before running to the edge of the water and looking into it. The water was too deep, too dark for him to see anything from here. Jack threw his staff into the grass near the edge, and without thinking, jumped into the river. The water hurt his eyes, but he held them open as he tried to see her amongst it. He heard an odd noise; a humming from somewhere in the water and a short distance from him, he saw a little white ball of light. Jack kicked at the water and propelled himself to her as fast as he could. The humming grew louder but once he got to her, it stopped abruptly, content he had found her. Jack felt around the mud of the riverbed until he felt her arm, which is when it happened. He felt a sharp pinch in his arm; like he had been shocked on the hand, and it had travelled upwards through the muscles of his arm. Jack ignored the feeling, and grabbed onto her arm, and put his other arm around her shoulder and began to pull the two of them to the surface. The water surface broke with the loud splashing of water, and Jack pulled her from the water, and laid her on the grass. He collapsed into the grass next to her and closed his eyes; he focused on his breathing, trying to ignore how badly his lungs ached. He had seen the cuts again, they covered her arms and what bit of chest he could see when she wore the singlet. They seemed to fade and stop at her neck, not spreading over her face. They were paper thin, faded and white, and most were an inch or so long; none longer than 2 inches. Her eyes flickered open, and stared into Jack's; he realised he had begun to stare at her. She didn't talk, but she moved her hand, and grabbed onto Jack's wrist. His eyes flashed with the bright white, and for a moment he saw two people; they were walking on a path through a forest, it was snowing and the two were carrying ice skates. She was young, with brown hair that came to her shoulders and wide brown eyes. He was obviously older, with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes that same colour as hers. The scene rippled, and with another flash of white, Jack saw the sky above him. It had grown heavy with clouds, making the area dark, and the air had grown colder.

"Who was that?" Jack asked.

"You."

Jack didn't respond, he simply stood up and grabbed his staff from where he had thrown it. He heard her move, and realised he had left her. He turned around to help her up but she was already on her feet, and was wringing the water from her hair.

"Oh I should'v-" She shook her head at Jack and smiled.

"Don't need it kid, you already helped me once."

"It was my fault."

"No it wasn't, now would yo-"

"I hit you! I didn't think you'd go so far, and I didn't know there was a river an-"

"Stop worrying, and enjoy the fact you know what you looked like as a human." She said, pausing before smiling again. "Enjoy the fact you know what your sister looked like."

Jack was stunned. "I have a sister?"

She nodded in response, and pulled her coat on; Jack didn't even question how she had gotten it. He could feel his body shaking, and without a word, he took off into the air. It was night now, and Jack flew through the cold air with a smile on his face. He flew over Burgess, slowly down to wave at Jamie as the boy was climbing out of his family's car, and flew on; Jack didn't often go higher than the clouds but tonight the flew through them, weavng in and out of the grey clouds as he headed towards the North Pole. He could see the sparkle of Sandy's dream sand amongst the clouds as he flew, and knew he would be covered when he landed; it made him laugh, and he rushed even faster through the air. Drops of rain splashed against his hands and lower legs, and were repalced by the soft falling of snow as Jack flew close to the North Pole. He circled a few times overhead before dropping into the North Pole through his skylight. The room was quiet, the lights had dimmed so they were dark but gave off just enough light to see where Jack was going, as he walked down the hallway to the bedrooms. He couldn't stop himself from myself; he as practically shaking, he was giddy. He stopped at the door to Tooth's room and pushed it open just enough to check if she was there; she was, curled up on a bed Jack couldn't quite see, sleeping peacefully. Jack closed the door slowly, making sure it didn't make any noise then turned to head to his room, not expecting to see North in front of him. Jack jumped where he stod but luckily, was able to stop himself making any noise. He glared at North for a second, before his face become one of nervous guilt.

"I know I've been gone, I was ju-" Jack began to defend himself but North held up a hand and smiled softly at Jack.

"You must not worry Jack; Tooth is well, you check on her as well, is good to see. We worry when you disappear, we are family, families worry but we know you will be careful. You have been busy, yes?" North walked into Jack's room, following behind Jack, and smiled. Jack set his staff against the wall and laid down on his bed, sinking into the soft matress.

"Is she okay?" He asked, realising he had never really checked on Tooth until now.

"She is well; she is strong, recovers well. Was a warrior when we met." North said, looking at Jack. North's face was oddly serious, something Jack didn't see often.

"Tooth tells me not to worry, Bunny says opposite; must I worry?" North asked.

"About what?"

"You, Jack. You have been all over place lately, have you recovered fully from fire? She is strange girl, maybe not say thank you but appreciates your help. You do not need to hide, we ar-"

"A family." Jack said, with a smile.

North shook his head and kept on smiling.

"She is strange, but it's nice that there's someone here I'm closer to in age, and she sems to, idunno, understand memories differently to Tooth. They're not all going to be good, and I'm worried about the bad ones. She's kinda helping me sift through it." Jack admitted; he hadn't wanted to say it to anyone but he expected the girl had already figured it out. North nodded at Jack and gave Jack a few solid pats on the shoulder, before leaving the room.

"Rest well." Jack heard North call back, as Jack closed his bedroom door. Jack smiled to himself as he laid down in his bed and stared at the ceiling again, the cover pulled up to his chest. Jack hadn't wanted to say it to North, but he truly was enjoying his time with her, though not simply due to age; it was like being a young kid hanging out with the cooler big kids, someone who swore and fought, someone who wasn't worried about being gentle with Jack. The bruises he could feel on his body from jumping and falling against the ground in misjudged dodges was proof. He let his eyes close but, rather than drifting to sleep, he felt something odd. The feeling of being submerged in cold water, the feeling of it pressing against his eyes and mouth, and the wet stickiness of his hands. Jack sat upright and gasped heavily, he was breathing quickly; panting. He was safe in bed, dry and nowhere near the river. He could hear the window rattling from the wind outside; the sound was comfrting, he always liked to hear the wind. It had been his first friend after he woke up. Jack didn't worry about trying to fall asleep again, he curled up in his blankets and looked out of his window. The noise of the wind, and the soft noises of North working in the workshop soon had Jack asleep; one of the most peaceful sleeps he'd had in some time.

He Found himself in the field again the next day, they hadn't made concrete plans to meet up, but he hoped she would show up. He spent the time throwing his staff around; tricks others seemed impressed by, but to him they were second nature. He heard chatter over the hill, and saw her; as well as Eros. Jack felt his heart stop, he couldn't fight her with Eros there; how would Eros handle it? Jack wasn't keen on getting an arrow shot at him, and less keen on one making contact with him.

"Hey kid!" Eros called out, waving excitdly at Jack; she rolled her eyes but smiled.

"She tells me you two have been practicing."

"Oh? Yeah I guess." Jack wasn't sure what else she had told him.

"Jack Frost!" She shouted at him, and Jack was ready to recoil. "You never mentioned you were bloody scared of water!" Jack could only stare at her, as she marched closer to him and stopped, her arms crossed as she looked at him.

"I mean, I only told one person. Who I didn't expect to gossip." Jack was bitter. Her face softened and she sighed, Eros was looking at her.

"Kid, I didn't realise how big of a deal it was for you to have gone into the water after me. So, I figured, you could pick something as a thank you."

Jack perked up, but was cautious.

"Pick what? A memory?"

"Yes, one of yours or, one of mine. Random of course, pinpointing them is… hard." She sat on the grass and motioned for Jack to join her; while Jack sat down, Eros wandered off towards the river. Jack watched Eros for a moment, then noticed a hand grab his.

"Which one?"

"Uh yours?" Jack said, without thinking.

 _He saw the white flash again, then opened his eyes to see himself in a cave, sunlight coming in through the caves ceiling; filtering through tiny holes in the rock. The cave was just light to see in, and Jack could hear voices; shouting. Jack walkedslowly towards the voices, and found himself in a large cavern with an open ceiling that was partly covered by a tree canopy; the young girl was standing in the middle of the cavern, and Death was nearby. It was her that was shouting, Death didn't seem to be saying anything._

" _You said it would work!"_

" _I said-"_

" _I know what you said, you said it would work if you did it correctly; you messed up on purpose!"_

 _Her voice was a screech, Death tried to speak but it was a weak attempt. Jack saw that all the cuts were there, but fresh; they much be new, recent. He noticed the little drops of blood on the ground, some wet, some beginning to dry, and gasped. It was very recent. She didn't seem to notice she was covered in the tiny cuts; her arms, legs and upper chest were covered, fading at her neck so that none covered her face._

" _You said it would work, you explained it; I've read it all again and again, and again, and it didn't work! You stopped it!"_

 _Death sighed and tried weakly to speak. "Pitc-"_

 _Jack was shocked at how quickly she had grabed the stone and thrown it, narrowly missing Death's head; Jack wasn't sure if she had missed on purpose._

" _I don't bloody care about Pitch bloody Black, or whatever the hell it is he wants! Can he do it?"_

" _Do what, child?"_

" _The god damn ritual! If he can do it, he can have the stupid memories!"_

" _Do not speak about him like that." Death said, and Jack could hear the undertone in his voice; a warning._

" _Do not speak to me like I am any other spirit; like we are any form of team! I am no child, I am no team member of yours, I am no god damn spirit!" She grabbed another rock, and with as much force as she could, threw it; it sailed through Death's body and smashed into the cave wall behind him._

Jack opened his eyes and took a sharp breath, and saw she was standing next to him, her hands in her coat pockets. She didn't speak, she just stared out over the small river and the gras that was beyond it.

"Did you mean it?" Jack asked, and she nodded. "We say nasty things when we'reupset, sometimes." Jack said, thinking back on previous interactions he'd had with the Guardians.

"I still mean it." Jack looked at her, his eye wide; he couldn't belive what she had said.

"But-"

"I get to watch my little sister grow up, and I get to watch her die. I will take her memories and I will see Death take her, then she will be gone and I will live for the rest of whatever kind of life this is; knowing she is gone. She was my best friend, and she thinks I've left her."

"What did he do? Did he do the ritual wrong?" Jack needed to process what she had said, he needed her to talk about something else.

"Yes, he avoids talking about it, because he knows I'm right. I don't care what his reasoning is for it, he made a promise and he broke it. I know his job is important; doesn't mean I have to like him."

Jack was silent, and the two of them stayed where they were for some time, before something else popped into his mind.

"Do any other spirits know? That you tried, I mean."

Jack saw the smile creep along her lips; and was amazed at how much her skin brightened when she was smiling. She looked down at her arm, and pulled the cuff of one the sleeves down so she could see her skin.

"Dawn knows. I'm not sure how; I don't believe he told her." She pursed her lips and pulled the cuff back down. "God I was so much prettier without these; I looked so much more alive when I was, well alive. So much brighter."

"You're still pretty." Jack said, and realised what he had said, but couldn't say anything else. She had gone.


	18. Chapter 18 - Afraid of Winter

**Chapter 18**

Afraid of Winter

"No!" Jack shouted at no one but himself. "I didn't mean it! I did but, not, oh _come on_!" He ran his hands through his hair and groaned, kicking at a rock in the grass. The rock flew through the air and fell into the small river with a soft plop; Jack stared at the ripples in the water for a few seconds before he groaned again and flew off, muttering to himself as he made the journey to the North Pole. North was busy in the workshop so Jack was able to crawl into bed without making conversation; he just stared at the ceiling in the quiet of his room.

How could he have said it out loud? Jack could just imagine her and Eros laughing about it; laughing over the child winter spirit, who can't control what he says. Jack fell into his thoughts and never realised how tired he was, and before long, a tapping at the window woke him up. He ignored the sound but it continued, getting louder as time passed; it was impatient. Jack sighed into his pillow and slowly sat up, and was surprised to see nothing at the window. He crawled along his bed to see outside, and was surprised to see a green field rather than the cold tundra of the the North Pole. Curiosity got the better of him, and so he climbed out of his window and dropped gently to the ground; carried by the wind. He landed next to the small river, recognising it once he was close by, he hadn't seen it when he looked out through the window. Jack looked at the water and felt odd; his skin began to feel damp, and he could swear he could feel the water pressing against his ears.

He looked down and was shocked to see the water had climbed higher, and was now over his ankles, and seemed to be climbing quickly. Jack scrambled backwards, but found that the water was spreading, following him as he tried to make his way out of it. Jack stumbled and fell, landing in the water on his side. Water splashed against his face, close to his mouth and he pulled back. He flailed his arms around him, suddenly aware he didn't have his staff; and he found something. His hand found the piece of black fabric; a coat, floating in the water. Jack couldn't take his eyes off of the coat, but his mind focused on one thing; where was the owner of it? He looked up when he heard noises; splashing nearby, and saw someone standing in the water. She was standing in the water, in her jeans and singlet, covered in fresh cuts. Her hair was a bright blonde, and her eyes were so brilliantly blue Jack didn't believe they could be real.

"I was so pretty." She didn't speak, but Jack could hear words; over and over, repeating in his head, gradually becoming louder until they were shouting at him; desperate for Jack to agree. He stared at her, the two of them locking eyes, not speaking. He blinked, and she was gone, and Jack woke up. He sat upright in his bed, suddenly feeling a lot drier and warmer, his ears were no longer blocked and he couldn't feel the mud under his feet anymore. He could hear laughter in the background and blinked a few times; what was going on? He wasn't sure what the date was, but he could tell who was outside; Bunny, North, Eros and someone else, who he couldn't quite hear. North was shouting, and Bunny was cheering at something. He made his way out to the workshop and was greeted by colourful cut outs of eggs hanging from the ceiling, and dozens of tiny chocolate eggs sitting on every and any surface in the main room.

"Jack! You helped her, didn't you!?" Bunny asked, clapping Jack on the back with a laugh. North did not look impressed.

"Help who with what?" Jack asked, laughing at what was going on, or at least how strange everyone was being. Bunny pointed up at the higher beams of the ceiling, and Jack saw her sitting on one of them, her legs resting on the beam, she was smiling down at them; smirking.

"How she up in roof?!" North asked, obviously frustrated by the eggs. He was shaking his head, and Bunny was still busy laughing.

"No eggs!" North yelled.

"You said we'd have an egg hunt!" Eros defended himself, and perhaps her.

"Not here!" North responded, throwing his arms in the air.

"Where did you get so many eggs anyway?" Jack asked, picking one up.

"Ahh, not every question needs an answer, Jack." Eros said, winking at Jack. Jack smiled and shook his head, which he noticed was throbbing. It would likely be from his poor sleep, and bad dreams; the headaches seemed more common lately. The group laughed a bit longer, and soon Bunny and North settled down for a game of chess, and Eros settled himself on a couch near a window, enjoying a smoke from a pipe Jack hadn't seen before; he was surprised North was okay with it inside the building. Jack noticed a thin cut across Eros' cheek, it had begun to heal but was still noticeably fresh. Jack wondered over and sat down next to Eros on the couch, and glanced up to see that she was laying on her back on the beam of wood, one leg dangling from it. Jack heard Eros chuckle next to him and glanced over, catching Eros with a smirk on his face.

"She's a tad old for ya kiddo."

Jack groaned, and rested his face in hands; elbows on his knees. She had told. Eros laughed and patted Jack on the shoulder, before returning to his pipe.

"Kid, you gotta understand."

"What? She told you, there's not much more to understand." Jack didn't mean to sound nasty, and he wanted to apologise; but he didn't.

"Who else is she gonna tell?"

"What?"

"She hasn't got a group like you have; maybe you're not close to them but, you've got em; even it's by force. She's really only got me. You saw the memory, she's not likely to tell Death anything."

Jack sighed and rubbed his face with his hands; this was all too difficult.

"I just- I didn't mean anything by it, it just kinda came out. I didn't think about it, at all." Jack took a breaht, he had begun to ramble. "I'm just tired."

"Mmm, she noticed. Bad sleep?"

"Bad dreams."

"You're friends with the spirit of dreams, and you're having bad dreams?" Eros asked, shocked.

Jack smirked at Eros, looking up from his hands.

"Seems odd doesn't it? What's your deal with her, anyway?" Jack nodded towards her.

"We weren't talking about her though."

"We were talking about me, which I'd rather not do; so?"

"She was right." Eros said, sighing. "You are a brat." Jack laughed in response, not expecting that as the response to his question. Eros leant back in the couch and made himself comfortable, letting his hand holding the pipe droop over the armrest.

"I would regard her as a little sister, if she wouldn't beat me for saying it. We get along well enough, we can have our little jokes but she does need someone she can talk to and well, I guess that's me."

"You guess?"

"Well she's never said it outright but, she'll come to me for advice, or to vent, or to shout about people; lately it's been about you."

Jack sighed and relaxed into the couch, he wasn't surprised to hear that.

"People seem to be shouting about me a lot lately." Jack said, staring at the ground.

"Who, Dawn? Who cares, she's an old bat who's just jealous you're stronger than her." Eros said, waving Jack's words off with his hand.

"How could I be? She's obviously older, and she's been doing this…whole thing longer." Jack said, waving his hands to gesture towards the room, and the people in it. "She's stronger than me, so I don't know why she's so nasty, she could just fight me, put me in my place." Jack said bitterly, and was surprised when Eros laughed.

"Ki-kid oh my god I'm gonna choke, wow, okay. She's loud, rude but she is _not_ a fighter, if you can hold your own against our death kid over here, she's got no chance with you." Eros said, pointing at her with his thumb; she was sitting on the beam, glaring at them both.

"Oh hey kiddo, you awake?"

"Talking about me, Eros?"

"Sure am, show Jack what happened with you and Dawn." Eros said, and they watched her stand on the beam.

"You throw me back into that river, Jack Frost." She said, and she was gone. Jack stared at the spot she had been; his stomach felt heavy. It reminded like that, until the next day, and was still like that when he was standing in the field again. She drew the line in the dirt again, and they began; both of them moved quickly, much like last time. Something was bothering Jack; why did she care so much that he had gone into the water? He'd put her there after all, he should've helped. Surely she understood; she would've done the same, wouldn't she? Definitely for her sister. It struck him; he could see the accident again, as he dodged out of her grasp.

"It was coming from the other way." Jack whispered to himself.

"What was, Jack? You're slowing down!" He heard her warning behind him, and rolled away.

"The truck! It was coming from her side of the car; you spun your car around! You took it on purpose!" jack shouted, his staff becoming thick with ice where he held it.

"So? She's my sister, I had to do something." She said, from somewhere Jack couldn't see her; she sounded odd; mad, taunting. Daring Jack to question it.

"So why don't you understand why I helped you?!" Jack shouted and struck; the ice struck her in the chest, and she flew back over the embankment, and fell into the water. Jack walked to the top of the embankment and stared at the ripples in the water; his breathing was heavy, and he couldn't make his body move towards the water. He heard a splash, and saw her pull herself to the river bank. Jack sighed, relieved, and turned away from her; he turned to find himself standing in his bedroom.

"Oh come on!" Jack moaned, then felt a hand grab his wrist; it only held for a second before it was gone again, but everything had gone white. He was standing in a field, near a small fairy circle made up of tiny red and white mushrooms. He walked ahead, hearing someone shouting, stepping though the mushroom circle on his way. He made his way up and over a small hill, then saw the young girl standing near the edge of the forest; she was leaning against the tree, breathing heavily, she looked sick.

"What a stupid thing to have done." Jack heard behind him, and felt Dawn step through him as she walked towards the girl.

"Morning Dawn, did you need anything?" She asked, her voice flat and obviously bored.

"Why would you do it? An awful, nasty thing, and you wanted to do it! Why he decided to give yu this role, I will never understand." Dawn said, then rolled her eyes. " _he,_ being the man in the moo-"

"I know who he is, it was explained to me."

"By who?"

"Don't know his name, had a bow and arrow, was nice enough."

"Eros? Well, I'll speak to him later about knowing his place; he has no time for you."

"And you do?" She asked, slowly standing up straight, stepping away from the tree. "You don't seem particularly pleased to be talking to me, which is weird, because you came to me."

"Someone had to do it, I know Eros would be too gentle, and the Guardians have more important matters to deal with."

"The guardians?!" She asked, and Jack hated how bitter her laugh sounded. "I'd be surprised if they knew I existed, Spring Spirit."

"…As I was saying, I realized this had to be done as soon as possible. Someone _must_ speak to you about how this world works; the spiritual world, our world. You don't get to just _give up_ your role."

"Why? I didn't ask for it."

"What good would you be alive? You're young, and weak minded; you're pouting over nothing! What god would you be to your sister like this?!" Dawn shouted, and took a step closer to the girl; Jack saw leaves starting to float behind Dawn, pointed their sharp points towards the girl. Jack heard a sigh, and the girl slowly brought a hand up, and ran it through her blonde hair. The hair became a dirty grey, almost black, as her hand ran through it.

"I like Spring; my sister _loved_ summer, out of every season, she loved summer; she got to go swimming, and chase birds at the beach."

"So? You are not speaking to the spirit of summer, or autumn, nor the winter child, it is only me. What do I care that you liked Spring?" Dawn hissed at the girl, who was staring at the ground. Her had rose, and she looked at Dawn with dark swirling eyes.

"I _hate_ winter, it's cold and dark and terrifying; I'm _not scared of Spring_." She spat, and stepped forward, moving towards Dawn. The leaves around Dawn shook, and slowly began to wilt; turning brown and orange, then falling to the ground. They crunched under the girls' feet; her black boots stepping over the wilted leaves as she moved towards Dawn.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Dawn shouted; the air seemed to shake. The trees blurred, and the sky seemed to crack open, bright white light pouring in from _somewhere_ outside. Jack blinked, and saw that everything was white; but he didn't wake up from the memory, he saw Dawn and the girl standing, inches from one another.

"I wouldn't soil my own hands by doing that, I'm not an _idiot._ " The girl spat, and brushed off the black coat she was now wearing. "I will not touch you Dawn, not now, but know that if I ever do; it will be for a very, very good reason."

"Where are we?"

"Even ground; there is nothing here for you to attack me with."

"This is-"

"I know what this is Dawn."

"You can't take others here. You can't, it's dangerous. _You stupid child."_

"It is only dangerous if I want it to be. Eros has been here plenty of times, and he is okay, as far as I know."

"But you-"

"I have been here for almost 4 years Dawn; I have known him for some time, just never his name, he never wanted to tell me. Anyway, I have to go; work to do." She said with a bright smile, then Jack sat up in his bed. He felt sick, his head ached and he desperately, wanted to go find Eros.


	19. Chapter 19 - Trying New Tricks

**Chapter Nineteen**

 _ **Trying New Tricks**_

Jack Frost was someone who liked to help whenever he could, which meant that around holidays he got _very_ busy. Bunnymund needed help colouring then decorating the eggs before delivering them while Tooth needed help collecting teeth and leaving coins in the weeks following Easter. Part of Jack's role was also to help guard the fairies, as well as the eggs and warren, which he was more than happy to do. Of course North needed help too once the other holidays were over for the year so Jack got to work helping the Christmas Guardian sort through naughty and nice lists – there were lots of them, and all needed to be cross referenced.

When Jack wasn't needed he would do his own work; checking that cold areas stayed cold, while stopping the cold from creeping into warmer areas of the world, though still providing them with a cooler day every now and then if he could, just for some relief. Of course he always went to check on Jamie and Jamie's cousin, keeping an eye on both of the families. It was a few weeks after Easter when Jack had stopped for a rest, sitting on a branch hanging over his pond when he had a thought.

He hadn't seen the blonde haired girl for awhile, nor Eros. He'd gotten so caught up in helping the others that he'd totally forgotten about having to speak to the other spirit. He hadn't seen them since waking up again in his bedroom, leaning to the side, clutching his bedframe for support after coming back to reality from the vision. Were they visions? Jack had always thought of visions as seeing the future but these were showing him the past, so were they still visions, or something else?

It was most likely too late now to find Eros and ask him anything, it had been weeks since Jack had seen the...vision. Eros likely wouldn't want to discuss it; which was more than fair. It was late anyway, just after midnight, so Eros would probably be asleep; Jack didn't want to disturb anyone, he just wanted answers. He decided it was time to move again; the wind pulled him from the branch and flew him across the sky, with no real destination in mind. Jack just wanted to move; it would keep him distracted.

If only he knew where to _find_ either of them; Eros had a place of his own, he'd heard Bunny mention taking eggs to it but as for her...did she even _have_ a house? Jack let himself down and landed softly on the ground below him, so he could think without worrying about where he was going. Did she have somewhere to stay? She must do.

She had to.

Then again...he'd been around for a long time with only a pond to call home, it was possible she didn't have somewhere of her own. The thought...bothered Jack, it felt too possible, too close to home.

Voices off to the side pulled Jack from his thoughts; two people, he thought, shouting off to the side. One of them was laughing. Where had the wind carried him this time? Jack shrugged and decided to invesigate the noise; he wouldn't be seen, so there was no harm in seeing what was happening. The voices were coming from an area of forest.

"-you can't say that! What if Santa finds out? You're _definitely_ off the nice list." A male voice said, teasing someone Jack couldn't yet see.

"I'm not even on the lists! This shouldn't be so fu- candycane licking hard, it's a stick!"

"Yeah but your stick is you know... _ordinary."_

"What?! It's a stick! I should be able to spin a stick! Dammit!"

The male voice broke into loud laughter as Jack moved past a tree and found himself stepping into a clearing, just in time to see a man duck as a stick flew just over his head, narrowly avoiding being hit.

"I think the stick has to be magic kid, sorry bout that." He said, straightenig himself a she stood up again.

"So if he had a normal stick he couldn't spin it?" The girl with pale blonde hair asked, arms folded in front of her chest, glaring at the man who Jack realised was Eros. "Is that right?"

"Careful! You nearly took my head off."

"Shame."

Jack was leaning against his staff, arms crossed over, leaning against the top of the staff's main piece of wood, smiling at the two as they bickered.

"Uh, sorry but-" Jack said, smiling still when they both turned to look at him. "I can do it with normal sticks as well. It being the spinning thing, I think."

"Dammit!" She shouted, throwing her arms up in the air, which made Eros grin. "It shouldn't be so hard!"

"...Do you want me teach you how?"

"No- yes, just..." She looked at the ground, frowning. "I don't know, kid. I was hoping to just... _do it."_

"You gotta practice kid, Jack probably had to." Eros said, smiling at her then at Jack. "How'd you learn to do it kid?"

Jack looked at his staff then back to them both, feeling a little guilty.

"I just sort of...did it? I never realised it was difficult for people to do until it was mentioned to me. I just knew how, I guess. Sorry." He said, pulling himself back a little. Eros glanced at her briefly, before looking back at Jack and grinning. She was looking at Jack but she was frowning rather than grinning. Eros rolled his eyes and walked over to the stick that had landed on the ground after being thrown, and prompty threw it back at her.

"You!-" She was cut off by the stick hitting her in the side; she glowered at Eros she bent to pick up the stick from beside her and turned to look at Jack, who was trying to look serious.

"Well, I'll leave you kids to it. Have fun kiddo, be good." Eros said, smiling at her before giving Jack a wave goodbye and walking off into the woods, disappearing from view amongst the trees.

"Fine, let's give it a go." She said, sighing.


	20. Chapter 20 - Looking Into A Mirror

**Chapter Twenty**

 _ **Looking Into A Mirror**_

Jack had never really tried to teach anyone something before, especially not something he had never really regarded as a skill but...it was oddly fun and almost sort of satisfying. He wasn't sure how long they had been going for but he felt like it was probably a few hours, which was both good and bad.

Bad because despite her minor progress, her inability to still spin the stick like Jack could was obviously annoying her.

Good because it meant jack actually got to spend time with her; he wanted to ask questions. He wanted answers but he felt like he might be pushing his luck. They weren't really friends, were they? Definitely not, he decided. They just happened to hang out every now and then, usually with larger groups of people.

They _had_ hung out a bit on their own before. It didn't count though, they were practicing how to fight; or rather, Jack was, she was there to help him train.

"Jack! Look at me!" She shouted, pulling him from his thoughts; she was frowning but only for a second. Jack grinned at her, which made her smile. She was spinning the staff; it was slower than Jack could do it but, she was doing it all the same.

"See, you _can_ do it!" Jack cheered, laughing when she lost her focus and dropped the stick onto the ground. "Sorry, but hey! You did it."

"And it only took like, four hours." She said. "I'll have to show Eros later, I'll visit him on my way home."

"Home?" Jack blurted out without meaning to _. Oops._

She raised one of her eyebrows and smirked at Jack, looking a little...surprised by the sudden question.

"Yeah, what about it? _You_ have a home, don't you?"

"I do but I didn't know if you did and I was just thinking-"

"Frost, I've got a place to stay, don't worry about it." She said gently, tucking her hands into her coat pockets and walking closer to him. "I should head off anyway, I have a feeling work will be calling shortly. Thanks for today, it was fun."

She gave Jack a quick smile before reaching out suddenly and grabbing his wrist; the sudden touch startled him, making him blink. Something felt like it was tugging at Jack's chest and when he opened his eyes again, she was gone and he was standing on a dirt path, with green grass either side, large trees either side of the path. It was late afternoon and rays of orange sunlight coming in through the tree branches cast a brilliant orange glow over everything Jack could see.

"Jack, wait for me!" A little girl called out, stepping onto the path from the trees; a lanky boy with brown hair following her. Something long and straight resting against his shoulder, held there by his hand. The boy laughed as he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, so she could walk beside him down the path. Jack Frost - not brown haired Jack - decided to follow the two down the path despite not knowing who they were, though he had a suspicion.

"Come on slow poke." The boy said, pulling the girl closer to his side.

"I am not a slow poke! You were meant to wait for me! We probably lost the others too-"

There was a shout behind them, behind Jack, and the two turned with big smiles at whoever was shouting for them. Jack let out a gasp; it was like looking at a mirror. Almost.

The other boy definitely didn't have white hair and he was wearing brown pants and a brown overcoat and shirt, rather than a blue hoodie but... _that was him._ He knew it had to be, because the boy had some sort of staff in his hand, which was resting against his shoulder. He could feel the tugging in his chest again as things began to blur, and the light began to become painful to look at. He wanted to keep looking at them; at himelf and her. Was that his sister? It must be. Jack let out a startled sob as he fell to his knees and caught himself with the palms of his hands so that he didn't hit the ground completely; he had to close his eyes, the light had become too much.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in the clearing again, alone; he thought at least. There was movment neabry, and he saw a pair of shoes approaching him straight ahead.

"How ya feeling kid?" Eros asked, crouching down in front of Jack. "Work called, so she asked me to come check on ya."

"S-she did?" Jack asked, staring at the ground, not ready to move in fear he'd fall again.

"Well, she told me to, there wasn't really any asking. Think you can get back home okay?"

The breeze around his face told Jack the wind would get him home okay, so he nodded weakly and glanced up as Eros stood again.

"If you're sure kid, feel free to come stop at my place if you need to crash though. It isn't far, I figure you and your stick can find it okay, yeah? Like you found us when we were doing the stick thing?"

Jack didn't need to be looking at the man to know he was smirking, it was all over how he was talking to Jack; pleased and smug. Jack groaned because of course, the wind had brought him here – hadn't it? It had known what it was dragging him into. Eros laughed and helped Jack get to his feet and only let go of the boy's arm when he trusted that Jack could stand on his own. The two parted ways, Eros leaving for his own home while Jack left for...he couldn't decide, so he let the wind choose where he would end up for the night .In the end, it decided on the North Pole.

The other Guardians were pleased by Jack's arrival, as they had been setting up for a night in the study; North had made cookies and hot chocolate for everyone and quickly got one ready for Jack as well. Bunny was the one who noticed how Jack seemed to drift off into his own thoughts, smiling softly into his mug of hot chocolate now and then.

"Heya Frosty, you alright?" Bunny asked, standing in front of Jack, who was curled up on a couch in the study. "You've been...quiet."

"I'm...fine, Bunny, really. I just...had a funny day, is all." Jack said, looking up at Bunny.

"What did you get up to?" Bunny asked, an eyebrow up.

Jack opened his mouth and was saved from the conversation by alarms going off, a red light coming from the globe room. The Guardians moved quickly, knowing they needed to rush. They didn't have time to spare when it came to alarms, not anymore.


	21. Chapter 21- Dreams Become Reality

**Chapter Twenty-One**

 _ **Dreams Become Reality**_

"Jack, what Tooth trying to say-" North was cut off by Tooth, who firmly told Jack what she actualy meant. Nicely. She was obviously still trying to avpid the true issue, which bothered Jack to no end.

"I'm sure's _really_ nice Jack but...you know, you should be careful, you're only young and... you don't know what the other spirits are like. We just don't want you to get hurt. None of us really know her." Tooth was saying gently, while the team walked down the street they'd been called to. It was...chaos, put simply. The street ended at a large metal gate that lead into some sort of park, where it looked like tents had been set up earlier, many of which were now toppled over.

Jack could see families huddled together, adults trying to comfort children who were obviously frightened. There was a small truck on its side in the middle of the camp ground, which must have lost control and left the road, crashing through the chain they had seen hanging limp from its posts either side of the gate they had come through.

"Why were we called? Is an accident." North asked; a moment later the group heard an all too familiar sound from the trees around the camp site as dozens of nightmares emerged from the shadows.

"Blimey that's...a lot of them, isn't it?" Bunny asked, pulling his bommerang from it's home on his back and ready for the fight. It didn't take long for the creatures to charge at the Guardians; including the nightmares who had formed behind the group, unknowingly to the Guardians. The sudden strike from behind knocked the team apart, sending Jack flying ahead and landing on the ground, where he was quickly swarmed by a large clump of the nightmares in a cloud of black sand.

He scrambled, trying to attack them, to defend himself from the sudden onslaught but he couldn't find his staff anywhere in the dark cloud that was around him. It must have been knocked from his grip. He didn't dare to open his mouth to call for the others, in case the sand decided to flood his throat like it always did in the dreams. What could he do now? He had no staff, nothing to help him direct his magic; he was hopeless at doing it from his own body. He _needed_ his staff.

He had to keep fighting them off, until he could figure out what to do. That's the best he could do.

Jack felt movement beside him, the cause of it lost in the mass of sand that was trying desperately to get to his face, which he was shielding with his arms while he could feel his back being pressed down against the grass beneath him.

Again, movement beside him, something scrambling around next to him in the cloud of black sand. It was likely Pitch come to end him; something warmer than his own skin grabbed at his wrist and shoved something...wooden and familiar into his hand and close his fingers over whatever it was. The sudden jolt of the cold run up through his arm from his hand felt familiar and safe; something he knew well. He felt the familiar bubble push past his body, making enough breathing for him, so he could open his eyes and suck in some air -thank god _-_ before pushing himself off the ground and onto his feet. He was rushing to get out of there before the sand could get back to his face; the sound of the whinnying had become louder, more frantic as it raced forward again to continue what it was made to do; to defeat a Guardian.

Jack raised his staff and brought it down, slamming the bottom of it against the ground between hs feet with a cracking noise that made him panic; he'd broken this staff as well. North was going to be furious with him.

Cold air surrounded him as veins of bright blue light spread up like cracks in running across the top of a frozen pond, moving through the sand as it slowed and suddenly burst, shattering into a cloud of blue sand, which was blown away on the wind. He could hear the wind as it carried the sand away. It was very impressed with Jack. Movement behind him again; Jack spun without thinking and pointed the crooked end of his staf at whatever was there behind him. He was greeted by grey hair and dark eyes than seemed to be made up of liquid. A mouth with a split lower lip smiled gently at him as she held her hands up, palms facing him.

"Hey kid." She said, smiling at Jack. He stared at her, his body shaking; taking in deep breaths of air as he tried to process what had happened.

"...How did you bring it to me?" He asked in a whisper. No one was meant to be able to touch it. If she could, Pitch likely could; he was stronger than any of them. "You did, didn't you?"

"Grabbed it, it put up a fight." She told him. He stared at her for a moment, until she sighed and adjusted the sleeve of the hoodie she was wearing, made of green and brown fabric, to show him her wrist. The skin was red and blistered, where it had been hurt by something. "Words were exchanged, in a manner of speaking. If it helps, I'd rather never touch it again."

"Jack!" Tooth's voice finally reached him, as she raced to his side. "Oh thank goodness, we couldn't...anytime we got close, the noise they made was...we thought they were getting worse when we got closer. Sandy couldn't break through with the sand either and we just-"

"Tooth! Christ, let the kid breathe for a sec." Bunnymund told her, moving to stand next to her. "That was impressive, Frosty. How'd you do that?"

"I...with my staff, I guess." Jack said, lowering it, which seemed to relax her. "I- oh." Jack was looking at her, just over her shoulder, where he saw someone standing. The man was watching them quietly, and seemed to hesitate before moving closer, walking slowly. North and and Sandy had been approaching, but stopped when they saw Death walking towards Jack and the others.

"Child." He said, catching her attention; she turned slowly to look at him but didn't move from where she was standing.

"...What?" She asked, folding her arms in front of her chest, staring at him.

"...Perhaps you will visit me, when you are finished here?"

She gave a small nod before turning her attention to the others, who were looking at the man. They all looked so...unsure of what to do.

"You have all done well here tonight, luckily there is no...need for me, after all. Well done to you all." He said told them, glancing at Jack and smiling kindly. "I am quite impressed, young man."

"Oh, um, thanks..." jack said, looking at the ground, avoiding anyone's eyes as the man gave his farewells and left them, returning to where ever he lived. Jack wouldn't admit it but, the compliment felt good. When he turned again to look at the girl who had appeared in the storm of dark sand with his staff, she had already disappeared.


	22. Chapter 22 - A Helping Hand

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

 _ **A Helping Hand**_

 _The truck had come screeching down the road, the driver put to sleep by the heavy cloud of black dream sand swirling around in the cabin where he was sitting. The chain blocking the gateway broke from the sheer speed and weight as the truck crashed through it, flipping and landing on its side, narrowly missing a family asleep in one of the tents._

" _That's a lot of horses down there." Eros told her, looking down from the rooftop they had been sitting on, watching the sky for shooting stars. He had been watching everything unfold from the his seat on the edge of the roof._

" _Horses?" She asked him, looking down at the park where Eros was staring; the nightmares had moved from the vehicle and were now swarming the park, slowly becoming a part of the shadows beneath the trees. The two of them watched for awhile, unsure what to do. The Guardians had arrived, so they shrugged their shoulders and got ready to leave. The sudden swarm had been...nasty to watch, and they both saw Jack get swallowed up by the nightmares. The other Guardians tried to approach, to break through, but the creatures fought back angrily. They couldn't get close to Jack. His staff was lying on the grass, behind the cloud of nightmares where the others couldn't see it._

" _Shi-" Eros had grabbed her and pulled her close, cutting her words off. "Oi-"_

 _She hadn't even noticed him stand up._

" _You'll freeze getting near the kid, you're not wearing your jacket, idiot." Eros told her off, pulling his own hoodie off and holding it out. "And, watch your language."_

" _Who said I was-"_

 _Eros simply stared at her, eyebrow raised until she took the hoodie and pulled it on; it smelt of campfire smoke and cigarettes. It was made of green wool with grey patches on the elbows. She had always loved when Eros wore it; she had never asked to wear it herself._

" _I'll check on you later."_

" _You sound very confident I'll still be around later." She said, looking at the still ongoing swarm of black sand. It was hard to imagine anyone could be alive inside of it. She was going to put herself inside of that._

 _Why?_

" _You know me, unfailingly confident in you." Eros said, grinning at her, even if she was facing away and couldn't see it. He knew she'd know he was smiling at her like that. She always seemed to._

" _I know." She said, taking in a breath. "You're an idiot."_

 _He blinked and she was gone from the rooftop; she was down on the grass, already in the park. She stayed low to the ground and reached out for the staff, which moved along the ground, escaping her grasp._

" _Oh I forgot about North's...stupid gift to Frost." She grumbled to herself, trying to grab hold of the wooden staff which continued to evade her. "You know what, no. That kid's in there without a weapon, so you are going with me whether you like it not."_

 _She stood close to the staff and held the palm of her hand out, not knowing if this would work or not. Much like how she would use her ability to knock people away, she used it to press against the staff, maintaining a constant pressure, pushing it into the grass so could she bend down quickly and grab it with her hand before it could move away again._

 _She stood up and smiled; she had the staff._

 _It was after the first step towards the swarm of sand that the cold shot through her arm, spreading from where the wood was touching the skin of her palm. It was a cold, dry pain; she could feel where it was almost burning her skin._

 _Need to be quick then, she thought to herself, and moved._

 _She was lucky, in that she landed next to Jack in the sand mass; she was almost on top of the kid. She could feel his arm and was able to fight against the sand enough to push the staff into his open hand. Thankfully, she didn't need to open her eyes to hold the palm of her hand out and send the bubble of force outwards from her, making a small dome of empty space around the two of them._

 _She opened her eyes when she felt Jack stand suddenly; then the air around them went cold._

 _It was...impressive, watching the sickly black sand turn to a mass of frozen, blue sand that looked like glass. The shattering of the sand, which was blown away on the wind, was also impressive. The whole thing was very impressive and a little confusing. How could this kid not know how strong he is?_

 _She blamed Dawn._

"See? Knew you'd be back." Eros said, smiling at her from where he was lounging on her armchair, in her lounge room. "How'd it go?"

"How do I look?" She asked him, settling into the nearby couch.

"Tired." He told her. "How ya feeling?"

"Tired." She said, smiling weakly at him. Her hair had returned to its usual pale blonde, and her eyes were back to normal; she could feel it, like always. She felt clean again, she always felt...gritty when she changed.

"The kid was...certainly impressive. I'm guessing that was him, with the freaky blue sand, yeah?"

"Yeah it was. You know, looking at the kid...you don't imagine _that._ " She said, leaning back into the chair and looking at Eros on the other chair; the one he was sitting in was made of some sort of ugly green velvet. He'd put it into the living room one day when she was gone from the house, saying it was for him to sleep on when he stayed over, and it had stayed in the lounge room since.

"So, how'd you manage to pick up the kids stick?" Eros asked.

"Painfully."

"...I thought you were meant to be able to?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I wonder how the kid feels about that.

She shrugged and leant back into the chair, closing her eyes so she could pretend to be asleep. She didn't want to talk about it. Not to Eros, not to Jack, not even to herself in her own head. She decided she'd fall asleep, and ignore the thoughts that were floating around her head.


	23. Chapter 23 - Out of Place

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

 _ **Out of Place**_

Jack still kept the memory box tucked inside one of the drawers in his room at the North Pole; knowing what had been inside of it made something inside of him squeeze tight until his chest hurt. He decided he'd open it once the feeling stopped showing up whenever he thought about the box. He couldn't sleep that night so he laid in bed until the sun came out from behind the clouds that had hung over the horizon and decided that he was wasting time trying to sleep; he decided to go out instead of wasting any more of his time on sleep that wouldn't come.

He ended up walking through the North Pole, from his bedroom to the workshops, to the stables and finally, to the lounge where the others liked to sit in the armchairs and rest with the fireplace going in the background. Jack wasn't a huge fan of the room; it was cosy, he liked the atmosphere but the fireplace had always...felt wrong to him, so he tended to avoid the room. It was empty now, since the others were likely still asleep or out working. North would likely be up first, out of the others, so that he could get a start on what needed to be in the workshop for the day. The fireplace was lit but the flames were only small, doing more to light the room than providing any warmth.

Jack didn't have any real reason why he was in the room, he'd never really gone in there before, it had always felt out of bounds, like he _shouldn't_ go in. Maybe he'd been using the fireplace as an excuse to himself, so he didn't have to think about it. Jack hadn't noticed the person come into the room behind him until they spoke.

"Ah North- oh." Dawn said, her voice changing as soon as she realised who was in the room. The somewhat fake pleasant tone changed to what Jack could only call disappointed at the very least but closer to disgust.

"Afraid not, sorry. North should be awake soon though-"

"He _should_ be awake already. What has got that man thinking he could sleep so sleep into the day? It's past sunrise already!" Dawn said, sighing to herself, obviously frustrated. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a wal-"

"Not in this _room,_ I meant in this _building_. Does North know you're walking around like this? As if you're perfectly at home?"

"I-"

"Unbeliveable, really. Just...head off, go back to wherever you...live, I suppose. I just don't understand why you're _still_ here, bothering them." Dawn said, turning to leave.

"...Because I'm a Guardian as well?" Jack offered and asked at the same time; he wasn't sure which of them he was asking.

Dawn stopped walking for a moment and let out a light scoff.

"Do you really believe that? That The Man in the Moon hasn't made mistakes before? You're only one of them. It's...hard to hear, I can imagine but they really should have told you already." She said before swiftly leaving the room and closing the door after her, leaving Jack on his own in the room.

The door made a gentle click as it closed but the noise struck Jack, hard. It seemed deafening against the silence in the room and in his head. She couldn't be right; the others had told him so many times that 'Manny' never made mistakes.

Even though...Bunnymund had let it slip that they'd thought it was a mistake when they had first found out and...surely they'd considered it after the attack on the Warren. Jack couldn't be in this room any longer. He yanked the door open, much harder than he needed to, and raced out, heading towards his room.

He slowed and came to a stop in the hallway; he could see the door to his bedroom from here. They'd made it for him, hadn't they? So that he had somewhere to stay, to sleep, rather than outside. It could have been pity though...or guilt.

Guilt did make some sense, after everything that had happened with the Warren and Pitch. So...it was certainly a possibility but it didn't change the fact that they did it, right?

Jack stared at the closed bedroom door from down the hallway for a moment before he turned, and left the hall. He used the main door of the North Pole to head outside and stand in the snow, taking in how _calm_ it was outside. It was...nice, being outside, away from the warm air and fireplaces inside the North Pole. He thought about it while he walked back to his room to collect his staff; he couldn't travel far without it.

Unsure of how exactly he fit in here, or if he really ever would, Jack Frost decided he'd leave the North Pole and just...be anywhere else. He'd find somewhere, even if he was on his own. North missed Jack leaving through the skylight by only a few seconds.


	24. Chapter 24 - A Proper Scolding

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

 _ **A Proper Scolding**_

"Tooth, what's wrong? You've been fluttering about for hours." Bunny asked her. Tooth looked at Bunny with wide, worried eyes.

"It's Baby Tooth...she can't find Jack _anywhere._ She can always find Jack, the wind helps her but today it's just...sending her in circles."

"Hmm- Oh, North." Bunny said; North had just stepped into the lounge to join his team members. "Have you seen Jack anywhere? Seems that Baby Tooth is worried about 'im."

"Jack? Have not seen, not since attack in park." North said, placing a tray of mugs and cookies onto the coffee table. He stood slowly, eyes narrow as he thought. "Have not even seen him in workshop; Jack loves workshop."

"Ah! North!" Dawn cheered, sauntering into the room; Bunny noticed howDawn seemed awfully comfortable walking around, as if she was so perfectly welcome there. "I've been looking for you for days now. I have some things to discuss with you."

"Did not know, my apologies. Yeti's usually tell me when guests are here. They usually like guests, hah!" North said, grinning, hands on his hips.

"Mmhm...oh, there are less of you than normal." Dawn said, taking in the group of Guardians; even Sandman was there. "Where is your...winter child?"

"Winter _Guardian._ " Bunny corrected her. "And, we dunno. Tooth seems to be worried he's gone missing."

"Oh, hopefully he's finally understood what's happened then, good." She said, walking over to help herself to a cookie from the tray. North quickly held the tray up from the coffee table, where it sat just out of her reach due to his height.

"What happened, exactly?" Tooth asked, slowly hovering where she'd been standing.

"I simply told him the truth about what happened with this whole Guardainship business, you four really should have already. It's cruel to have let him believe it for long."

"What did you tell him?" Tooth asked, narrowing her eyes at the Spring Spirit.

"That the Man in the Moon made a mistake, that's all."

The room was silent, apart from the sound of ceramic smashing apart when North dropped the tray of mugs; luckily they hadn't been filled with hot liquid yet.

"What?" North asked. "Why you would tell...but there was no mistake!"

"Of course there was! That child can't be a Guardian, he shouldn't even be a spirit!" The woman argued, ready to defend her stance. The child was a mistake. Why couldn't anyone else see it? "He's reckless! I understand you North, and you, Tooth but Bunnymund! A blizzard on Easter?! You're going to forgive that?!"

"He's a child, he was learning!" Tooth shouted, then looked at Bunny apologetically. "Sorry, I-"

"It's fine Tooth." Bunny said, nodding at her gently, then looking at Dawn. " _You_ don't get to call her Tooth. What were you thinking, telling Jack that it was a _mistake_ that he was chosen?"

"Where could he have gone?" Tooth asked, not bothering to hide how worried she sounded. It had taken months for them to find him the last time.

"That little house, I'll betcha." Bunny said confidently.

"Ah, good idea Bunny!" North said. "You must leave, we must go find Jack."

Dawn was ready to argue but was quickly ushere dout by Phil the Yeti, while the Guardians readied themselves and headed off via a snow globe portal to the little cliffside cottage. It was turning dark; the cottage wa slit up from inside with a gentle orange glow, creating a sort of halo of light outsdie on the snow with the cottage in the middle of it. They searched close to the house, over the cliffside and through the nearby forest but there was no sign of the Winter Spirit.

They tried the pond next and again, there was no clear sign of the boy anywhere they could find.

Bunny saw it by chance, off to the side; his staff, partially buried in the snow off to the side of the pond. There was always snow near the pond, no matter the season. Tooth found something else, further away from the pond. Jack Frost's blue hoodie was caught up in the branches of a tree, just out of her arm's reach. It was lucky she was able to hover up to reach it.

"Blimey...why would he leave that behind?" Bunny asked when he saw what Tooth was clutching in her hands.

"I believe, perhaps, we need Eros." North suggested, resting a large hand on Tooth's shoulder to try and comfort his fellow Guardian. Bunny nodded but didn't say anything. It was quick, getting to Eros' cabin in the woods with a snowglobe portal. The wooden cabin was lit up by orange lights from inside as well, a welcoming sight amongst the darkness of the woods. The door opened while they approached to reveal Eros standing there, leaning against the side of the door frame. Bunny wanted to wipe the curious smirk off the man's face.

"Evening, what can I help you lot with?"

Tooth was fighting back tears and couldn't speak, so Bunny told Eros what had happened.

"We've lost Jack."

"He seems like someone hard to keep track of-"

"No, he's gone again. Dawn...said something to him. We found his staff in the woods, and his...hoodie." Bunny said, glancing at Tooth who was still holding tight to the blue fabric. Eros moved out of the way so they could enter the cabin where they were greeted by warm dry air and the smell of cinnamon.

"I told you to keep that door shut! It's cold out there!" A familiar voice came from another room. A moment later, pale blonde hair stepped into view from the other room, glaring at Eros. "Oh, what are you lot doing here? Eros didn't mention you were vsiting. There definitely are not enough cookies for all of us."

"That's because you won't share." Eros said, rolling his eyes. She scrunched her nose up at the comment but didn't argue. "I didn't know they were coming, apparently they've lost the ice kid."

"...He's not exactly a quiet kid, how the...how did you lose him?" She asked; Eros coughed out a laugh at her avoiding any _naughty_ language. "He also doesn't blend into much"

."...Apart from _snow._ Which he can _make._ " Eros said, rolling his eyes again but laughing when she gave a huff and left the room. "I am almost definitely not getting any cookies now. So, I'm gonna guess you want me to track him or something?"

"If-"

"How am I meant to track someone who can travel on the wind? People who fly don't typically leave tracks."

"He can't travel without the staff." She told Eros, coming back into a room with a cookie in each hand. She held one out to the side for Eros, who took it without looking and bit off a chunk of it. "What did she tell him?"

"That...it was a mistake when he was made into a Guardian." Tooth whispered, staring at the fireplace across the room. "She told him that Manny made a mistake."

She raised an eyebrow and stared at the Guardians. Eros had been watching her; she held the other cookie out for him, which he grinned at and took it without protest.

"And you disagree with her?" She asked.

"Of we disagree with her!" Tooth shouted, hovering a little, raising herself from the ground to gain some height on the girl. It was easy to forget Tooth was a warrior. "How could we agree with her?!"

"No, you disagree with her _now."_

" _How dare-"_

"Don't talk to me like that, Toothiana. We both work with memories, yours just work differently. I can see what _your_ memories of him are. Of you not being surprised when the attack happened. You immediately believed he had betreayed you! None of you considered any other option!" She told them; Eros was rather impressed by seeing this young girl, new to the spirit world, scolding the Guardians. He knew he liked her for a reason. "So don't come here unaccounced and expect Eros to solve your problem!"

"We just-"

"Does he even _want_ to be found?"

"What you mean?" North asked.

"He's probably upset and hurt, he probably doesn't _want_ to see anyone. Why would he? Give it some time, if he wants to be alone, let him be alone. You aren't his parents, you're meant to be his team mates. If he comes back, don't freak out about it being a whole thing. Just let him come back without any drama."

"You could leave his hoodie here, if you like." Eros offered. "He might be more comfortable coming here for it, rather than the North Pole."

"That's...a good idea." Tooth said and passed the neatly folded hoodie to Eros. He said his farewells to the Guardians and when they had left, he went to his kitchen to find her glaring at the tray of cookies she'd made.

"The kid would probably like some." He said as handed her a hankerchief so she could wrap some cookies up to take with her. She didn't speak as she wrapped four of the cookies in the blue and green checkered hankerchief. He walked her to the front door and stood outside with her, watching the trees sway in the night breeze. The air smelt like rain; he knew she loved rainy days, hopefully it would pick her mood up.

Pick her spirits up. Heh.

"You're a good big sister." He said without looking at her.

"Shut the hell up." She said, but after a pause, leant over and hugged him, which he returned. He leant down just enough to rest his chin on the top of her head. "Thank you."

It was a whisper, but she hoped it was loud enough for him to hear.

Eros smiled at the words; he'd imagined them, but never thought he'd ever really hear them. Not the way she meant it.

 _Thank you, for all of this._


	25. Chapter 25 - Caught Pink Handed

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

 _ **Caught Pink Handed**_

It took roughly another full day to track the boy down. She found him in a cemetery, of all places, sitting on the ground leaning against an old tree with his eyes closed. He was still wearing his brown pants but he was wearing a sort of off-white t shirt, instead of his hoodie, that was tattered along the lower hem.

"You know, you look freezing." She said, walking towards him. Jack sat upright at the voice and turned his head to face who had spoken; his eyes were wide but slowly, ever so slowly, returned to normal when he realised who it was. He still looked unsure of her though he wouldn't say it.

"...I _always_ look cold." Jack told her nervously as she approached and stopped beside him.

"Well, it makes me feel cold which is terrible. Lucky I brought your hoodie with me, and if you're nice I might even give it back." She said, sitting down beside him and leaning back against the tree as well. "I didn't know you owned a normal shirt. I never really thought about it before."

She placed the handkerchief on the ground and unfolded it so that the cookies were sitting out in the open.

"You can have one." She said after a minute of silence, when he didn't move to take one of the cookies. "I left plenty for Eros and took some for us, I ate mine on the way here-"

"Why did they go to you for help?" Jack asked, cutting her off. "They don't...um."

"They aren't my biggest fans, I know. They went to Eros for help actually, I just happened to be there. I was using his kitchen."

"...To make cookies."

"That was basically it, yeah."

"...Why did they go to Eros?"

"He can track things, like animals and stuff usually, sometimes people. He...used to be a hunter. He's still pretty good."

"Oh...what did he say?"

"Well...he said it's hard to track things that can fly and I mentioned you need the staff to fly. Which...they found it, left it near the pond I think, wherever you had left it."

Jack slowly picked up a cookie but held it with the tips of his fingers; pulling it apart into crumbs, rather than eating it. She decided not to comment on it, at least he'd taken one.

"...So, why are you in a graveyard?" She asked.

"I just kind of...ended up here, got sick of walking."

"Few hours of walking to get here from Burgess, I'd guess. You're a few towns over."

"I just didn't want to be there anymore, okay? It's not really any of your business, I don't even think you _like_ the others so why are you helpi-" His outburst didn't seem to bother her, she was smiling when she cut him off.

"Relax Snowball, I'm not gonna tell em where you are. It's not their business, or mine, I suppose. I just came to check on you."

"W-why not?" Jack asked in a whisper; he'd tried so hard not to cry since he left the North Pole but he could feel it starting up again; the wetness around his eyes. It had been different, crying on that frozen island when he'd been on his own forever ago. He couldn't cry in front of someone else.

"It's none of their business." She said, shrugging. "Maybe if they weren't such jerks I'd let them know but you're not doing anything wrong by getting some space so I don't see why I need to."

"Oh...okay, thanks-"

"I might tell Eros though, so he can keep an eye on you as well." She told him as she stood up and dusted off her coat. "He won't tattle either. So...the hoodie-"

"Can you...look after it? Just...for a bit."

"Sure thing Frosty, I'll leave it with Eros. See ya round, be good. Alright?" She asked with a smirk, glancing down at Jack before he blinked and she, as always, was gone. One day he'd blink and she'd be there in front of him still and he'll actually have a heart attack, he could just see it happening.

Jack spent the rest of the day, and the next six days, hanging out around the small cemetery. He read the names on the gravestones, explored the small pathways that circled back together and decided he rather liked sitting up in the large central tree. It was old and strong, and when it was windy it stood as still as a rock. It felt solid and safe which he decided was exactly what he needed.

North made sure the North Pole was always well lit and that all entrances were open and clear in case Jack returned late at night. Bunnymund made sure there was a clean, comfortable room in the Warren in case Jack stopped by, while Tooth made sure the fairies kept all eyes and ears open for any signs of the boy but time passed, days into weeks and there were no signs of the boy anywhere they looked. During the fifth week after Jack had gone, Dawn was around the North Pole more often, as well as visiting Bunny in the Warren; the team were polite but distant. They really had nothing to say to the woman.

Well, that wasn't true; they had plenty they wanted to say but the drama wasn't worth the words. Even if it _would_ feel good to say them.

Jack was...he wasn't particularly enjoying the solitude; the lack of company was...something he had easily forgotten. He'd been alone for so long but had very quickly become accustomed to having people around him all the time. He was sitting on the ground, in a different spot today, leaning back against the lower section of a stone pillar; the top half had crumbled long before he had arrived and was laying in pieces on the ground beside him. He didn't so much as see _her_ appear in front of him, rather there was suddenly a cloud of...pink smoke in front of him. It also could've been a cloud of...pink powder, drifting up from the snow covered ground of the graveyard. Smoke or powder, both looked the same when they were pink.

"Stupid fricking rabbit!" The voice came from amongst the pink cloud. Jack stared, eyes widening, remembering Bunny threatening him ages ago; a way to keep him out of the Warren. "Dammit I'm gonna burn that whole stupid Warren down! Stupid rabbit!"

Jack couldn't stop himself from starting to laugh. She was more visible now, the cloud having thinned out; her dark pants and coat were covered in splotches of pastel coloured powder, as was her face and her...no, her hair was _entirely_ one colour. It was a pastel pink, which reminded Jack of...a certain...sweet he'd tried to take once, only to be caught by Bunnymund.

"...Did you try to _steal_ from Bunnymund?" He asked, grinning at her; she spun to face him, looking up from her own hands as she did. Her eyes found him; swirling and dark.

"Um..."

"Oh, you so did."


	26. Chapter 26 - The Best Candy Ever

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

 _ **The Best Candy Ever**_

"Frosty? What the- why am I here?!" She asked, apparently noticing that she was in fact, in a graveyard. It appeared that the graveyard wasn't her actual target location, jack wondered where she was actually trying to go.

"Why are you asking me?" Jack asked, hopping up to his feet. "You're the one who appeared out of nowhere. Do you usually appear in a cloud? I've never noticed it before."

Her only response was to rip her black coat off and try to shake the dust off but there was no such luck. She had her singlet on underneath, of course; the scars were the same pale but almost shiny pink as the last time jack had seen them. It had occurred to him a little while ago that he had never really _seen_ scars before, not that he remembered.

Something small and pink flew out of one of the jacket pockets and landed against Jack's knee before falling to the ground. He picked up the small, pink heart shaped sweet and- oh no.

"Why have you got one of these?" He asked, holding up the offending candy.

"They taste good." She answered, not looking at him. "Why else would I-"

"Okay sure but, you're wrong."

Her head snapped up from where she'd been trying to dust the powder off of her jacket.

"Excuse me?"

"They taste like chalk!"

"Conversation hearts are basically the _best_ candy ever made. What the hell are you talking about? Chalk?! You don't know what you're saying." She said as she pulled her coat back on, grumbling to herself. "I suppose I can count this as me checking on you. It is technically a visit after all."

"You make it sound like I live here."

"...Uh-huh."

"Fine, shut up." Jack rolled his eyes as he turned away. She followed beside him on the ground as he walked along the broken bits of stone pillar, then continued on beside him as he walked along the top of the iron fencing that ran around the graveyard.

"Can I ask you a question?" jack asked her, and before she could speak, he added. "Without the whole you-just-asked-me-a-question thing that Bunny does."

"Talking to you is too much like talking to Eros. Sure, go ahead."

"Why _were_ you stealing from Bunny?"

"...You ever get an idea in your head and can't get rid of it?"

"Can't say-" jack glanced down from the fence to see her looking ahead but smirking, rolling her eyes. "What?"

"I don't know _your_ memories but I know memories _of_ you, and I know Bunnymund's memories of you."

"Okay...oh."

"Blizzards on Easter, eh?"

"It was only once, and it...was an accident." Jack said. "...Sort of."

She didn't say anything but she nodded for him to continue.

"It was...I don't know, I guess I wanted their attention? Someone's anyway, it didn't really matter who – I just thought it'd be funny to make it snow _a little_ and it just...didn't stop. I didn't know how. I thought I could but you know, an Easter Blizzard happened instead."

"You were...a troublemaker, from what I can tell, Frosty. Trying to break into the Pole as well, regular trickster." She said; she was smiling while she said it.

"No surprise Bunny put the security measures into-"

"So you're why I got covered in pink!"

"You're the one who broke in! For chalk candy!"

Jack jumped from the last pillar of the fence and landed neatly on a taller post, sitting down on the flat top, so he could look down at her frowning up at him.

"Stupid rabbit, I should've just gone to see Sammy."

"...Okay, but who's that?"

"You don't know Sammy?!"

"No?"

"We should go see him!"

"...How?" Jack asked and quickly realised it was a stupid question, so he dropped down to the ground next to her. "Okay, fine but two things. One, I have no idea who Sammy is and two, I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of the spirits hate me-"

Jack couldn't finish his sentence; she was quick to grab his arm and with a blink, he was no longer in the graveyard. He opened his eyes, expecting her to be gone again, with him stranded somewhere he didn't know.

He was correct, partly; he had no idea where he was, at all. He was wrong however, about her. She was still there, standing a short distance away, hands in her coat pockets as she looked around where they had appeared.

Where on earth were they?


	27. Chapter 27 - A Friendly Face

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

 _ **A Friendly Face**_

Jack Frost prided himself on being able to adapt; he'd adapted to having no memory of who he was, and he had adapted to his three hundred years of solitude. He had even somewhat adapted to the Guardians, and having them nearby, which hadn't been as hard as he had imagined. He told himself he could adapt again, to whatever was happening right now, he could adjust himself to match the situation.

Which was him standing in the middle of a gigantic field, that looked half dead apart from the...dozens of pumpkins sitting amongst the patches of dry grass that covered the field. He let himself look around, taking in wherever it was that he had ended up; it was a massive field of grey dirt and almost dead grass, dotted with dozens of pumpkins that grew from thick, thorny vines that ran along the ground.

The sky was grey but not from clouds, that was just...the colour of the sky. It was bright without there being any sun he could see...though the place seemed to have some sort of...grey tone applied to it, making everything feel old and like the place should be cold even though it wasn't. It was...not warm but not cold, sort of stuck in the middle of the two.

"Where...are we?" Jack asked finally, breaking the silence. A crow off in the distance gave a shout before flapping it's huge wings and flying off into the distance, disappearing past a clump of dead trees. There was a scarecrow in the same direction as the crow had been. Its pumpkin head was carved into a mischievous grin, and the body was hanging up on a T shaped frame made of old sticks. Jack didn't dislike scarecrows but this one felt...different, so he decided he'd stay a little further away than he might normally.

"We're in a pumpkin patch." She called out. She'd already started walking through the field; Jack had to run a short distance to catch up to her, before falling into a walk beside her.

"Okay but I could have figured that out for myself." Jack said.

"It's...I mean I don't really know _where_ it is. Some places don't really...exist in the world, as an actual location you can walk to, they're just sort of...there. Makes them hard to get to."

Jack's mind wandered to the science fiction movies he'd often seen while watching people's houses, or on the screens in front of an electronics store. Gateways to other dimensions, where the adventurers are eventually torn apart or vaporised by the gateway. He had never really imagined that was how he'd go, vaporised by a portal to another dimension.

He looked around again and glared at the scarecrow; he could've sworn they'd walked further from it than this. She must be walking on an angle, for them to pass it so closely.

They kept walking and Jack kept seeing the scarecrow, always just off to the side; on the left or the right, it kept changing.

"Okay, I think I'm going crazy." Jack said finally, stopping dead in his tracks.

"It can happen to anyone." A voice nearby said; it was deep but almost high pitched at the same time, almost...joyful. "Can I ask... _what are you doing in my pumpkin patch?"_

The question was more a growl and the nearby Scarecrow began to move, pulling itself uneasily from it's wooden frame, which creaked from the movement. Jack's feet automatically readjusted to his fighting stance, though his upper body felt more like it was ready to run. His back was facing her; he had adjusted his body to face the scarecrow, as if he was going to fight it.

She had brought him here.

She had brought him here, where there was no way for him to get his staff. He had no weapon. Was he going to be killed by a scarecrow? Pitch Black would be-

"Sammy!" She scolded, hands on her hips, glaring at the scarecrow who was now standing at full height. He was...incredibly tall. "Stop that!"

The towering, thin pumpkin man stood over them for a minute, before his face broke into a grin and he laughed. Jack stared at the man in...shock? Confusion? Bewilderment?

Bewilderment worked.

"I didn't recognise you! Not with all the...pink. I like it, it suits you!" The scarecrow said cheerfully, holding his straw stuffed arms up beside his face. It wasn't the scary face Jack imagined a sentient, pumpkin headed man to have; it was a friendly face.

"I'm hoping Eros can help get it out of my coat." She said, grumbling.

"What about your hair?" The scarecrow asked; his eyebrows would have raised, if he had any.

"My hair?"

"...Well, it's pink."

Judging by her facial expression, she hadn't been aware of this.

"Frost!" She shouted, adjusting herself to glare at him. His sheepish grin was an automatic response, which didn't help. "You didn't tell me my hair was pink! I thought it...it should be grey!"

"The...powder must cover it up?" Jack offered, grinning still. "I thought you knew!"

"...Frost?" The scarecrow asked, cocking his head to the side. "You're-"

"Jack Frost." Jack said. "Um, hi?"

"...Well, normally I'd ask how you got here but I have my suspicions. What's the reason for the visit? Not that I mind! Love seeing new faces. Though you're less..." the scarecrow sort of waved his arms about, gesturing around Jack, who didn't follow what the man was saying. Man, scarecrow, whatever he was.

Spirits were so confusing sometimes.

"Sammy..." She warned, arching an eyebrow.

"I mean, I thought you were, you know, _old._ "

"I mean...I am? Technically, I suppose."

"...How about not technically?"

"Sammy!"

"I'm just askin'!"

"I'm...not sure, actually."

"Huh." He said. "Well, alright then. Nothing like a good mystery, I suppose. Sometimes we can be our our own mystery! Those tend to be the best ones."

Jack was surprised but pleased he didn't press the subject.

"So, what're you kids doing here anyway?"

"...I've got no idea, she dragged me along."

"You didn't know who Sammy was! I was coming for a visit anyway, figured you should come along."

"Why the sudden visit? Been awhile."

"I wanted to ask you for something." She said, hands tucked into her pockets, looking at the scarecrow with a grin.

"And what would that be?"

"Pumpkin seeds."

There was a pause; silence as the scarecrow looked at her, considering what she had said.

"I don't think Bunnymund would appreciate-"

"Not Bunnymund. Not yet...I'm curious as to how you knew."

"Bunnymund has used the powder before, on Groundhog. Why the seeds then? Who are you playing a trick on this time?"

Despite her pink hair and pastel coloured clothes, her eyes were still swirling with black liquid which Jack still found off-putting to look at; eyes weren't meant to look like that. Her grin was...it was like Pitch Black, mischievous and scheming. It didn't suit her while at the same time, it looked at home on her face.

"Dawn."


	28. Chapter 28 - Some People Like Snow

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

 _ **Some People Like Snow**_

"What?!" Jack asked, while Sammy chuckled at her answer.

"That's quite a fight you're picking...can I ask why?"

"...Personal matters?"

"Well...I usually don't give them out but...maybe we could make a deal?"

That sounded like a terrible idea to Jack. She didn't seem to share the same thought though.

"What's the deal?"

"Well...I know I'm sort of...fall associated but I _do_ like snow. Think I could get some for the pumpkin patch?"

"...Uhhh." She glanced at Jack, who looked completely...bewildered. "Kid?"

"You _want_ snow?" Jack asked. "I usually get told to get rid of it. Well, get rid of myself and the snow but you know, same thing."

"Yeah kid! Snow me up!"

"Okay but um...I sort of, can't, right now."

"Ah! Why not?"

"Oh you're fuc- you're stick!" She shouted, catching herself barely in time. "Of course!"

"I'm almost definitely missing something but, you know what? You seem like a nice kid, so I'll give up some pumpkin seeds. I'll keep my hopes up for some snow though."

Sammy pulled a handful of little white, almost a pale orange, seeds from...somewhere on his person and held them out. She grinned as Sammy tipped the seeds into her open hand and closed her hand tightly around them.

"You know, she's going to suspect you immediately." Sammy told her.

"Well, yeah. I'm not an idiot."

"I'm tempted to argue but I have a sneaky feeling she deserves it."

"Well, you're right. Let's get you back home kid."

"...Before you go, what did you take from Bunnymund?"

She grabbed at Jack's arm, throwing a little candy heart at the scarecrow as she moved her arm; once her handy was empty she grabbed onto Jack and they disappeared, Sammy's hearty chuckle fading away as they did.

"Safe and sound!" She said cheerfully; they were back in the graveyard. "There, just like I promised."

"Was that a non verbal promise?" Jack asked, quirking an eyebrow. "There wasn't much discussion."

"Kid I will leave you in the pumpkin patch next time." She said, breaking into a grin and with a small wave and a "Bye!" Jack had blinked, and she was gone.

"I have such a bad feeling about what just happened." Jack said to nobody, and let out a sigh. He was so, so right.

A week later, while the other Guardians were in the Pole, discussing plans for upcoming holidays, Dawn stormed into the room.

"Where is he?!" She screeched at the group.

"Where is who?" North asked, genuinely confused.

"Don't play stupid North!"

"Am not playing!" North said, then frowned. "Wait-"

"Dawn, what's happened?" Tooth asked.

"That brat of yours!"

"Who are you talking about?" Bunny asked, ears standing on end.

"That stupid winter child!"

"We haven't seen 'im for weeks Dawn, not since you drove him off."

"Then how did the pumpkins get into my field?!"

Silence was the only answer, for a short time anyway; Bunnymund was the first one to laugh but was quickly followed by the others.

"What's a snow kid gonna do with pumpkins?" Bunny asked, smiling wide at Dawn. "Pumpkins? Huh..."

"What pumpkins look like?" North asked.

"Like pumpkins! What else?!"

"Any faces on pumpkins?" North asked; he'd had the same thought as Bunny.

"Faces? What are you- Like, Jack o' Lanterns? Sammy knows better than to-"

"Yeah but...I'm just thinking." Bunny said. "Someone tried to break into the warren the other week, into the vault."

"Bunny! You never said-" Tooth was cut off by Bunny laughing.

"Well, they got caught by the security system anyway. You know, the dye? I don't think it was the kid and the only other person who has tried to get in is...you know, the other kid. She tries to steal candy to show Sammy, so he'll make it for her since he makes way bigger batches than I do."

"And?!" Dawn shouted.

"Ah! She must have gone to see Sammy!" Tooth said, understanding bunny's train of thought. "...Do you think...would he give her seeds though? They're pretty important to him, it'd be like North giving someone a yeti."

"Never!" North interjected. "Perhaps we visit Sammy! Always likes visitors!"

"North you know he hates-" Tooth cut Bunnymund off with an elbow to his side. North grinned at the others, having decided they'd visit the scarecrow man. The team and Dawn travelled to the world of Halloween, pumpkins and crows using a snow globe.

"Sammy!" Bunnymund called out while Dawn glared around at the mostly dead field.

"Bunnymund! North! Tooth! Even Sandy is here!" Sammy called out with a grin as he climbed down from his wooden stand. "So many visitors at once! Ah! Even Dawn is here."

"We didn't come to chat, Sam. Did you give seeds to someone?"

"...My pumpkin seeds? Why on earth would I give them out?! Do you know how much work they take?!" He asked, his fake shock clear with his elaborate hand gestures.

"Like candy hearts?" Bunny asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly like candy hearts, she loves em. Nasty chalky things."

"I know, right? Oh sorry, we are here on business, I guess."

"Why on earth would you give out seeds?!" Dawn asked.

Sammy shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

"Made a deal, she's good at them, you know? Oh, I met that ice kid. I think she dragged him along."

"...She brought him here?" Tooth asked, wings fluttering. "That means-"

"She knows where he is!" Bunny shouted. "That lying little-"

"Of course I know where he is." She answered bluntly from where she was curled up on Eros' couch, reading a book. "I never said I didn't."

"You should have told us!" Tooth said; she was concerned about Jack. They all were.

"...Why?" She asked, still unmoving from her spot on the couch. Dawn was standing besides Tooth, glaring at the girl and Eros, who was sitting on the windowsill further back behind the couch, pipe hanging out of his mouth. "Why'd you bring her along?"

"Because-"

"I don't know _how_ you tricked Sam into giving you pumpkin seeds but-"

The grin on the girl's face was sudden and bright and mischievous; it was very obviously one of amusement.

"Oh, that?"

"Yes, _that."_ Dawn all but hissed at the girl. Eros sat up a little straighter; just in case.

"Just some pumpkins, I don't see the harm in it." She said, shrugging.

"Just some pumpkins?! Do you have _any_ idea of what you've done?! The damage-"

"I'd argue that damaging the Guardians is a little more disastrous but sure, we can focus on the pumpkins. At least when Pitch Black manages to win this…battle you're all having, he could probably get rid of the pumpkins for you."

"...You got seeds from Sam because..."

"Because you were _horrid_ to Jack Frost." She said from her cozy spot on the couch. "You're lucky it was only pumpkins."

"Why, what else could _you_ have done?" Dawn sneered. "You couldn't even get into the warren without being found, going by your hair."

The pink was still there, though faded.

"I like it." Eros quipped from his seat on the window sill. "So did Sammy, and I bet the kid did as well. You could colour his hair too, then you'd properly match."

"Eros!" Dawn snapped.

"Well...I know how your...belief mumbo jumbo works. Vaguely, anyway." She said, slowly sitting up from her place in the couch. Eros had draped a blanket over her hours ago and she pulled it with her.

"Yes, and?"

"Well, say people started having...really, _really_ good memories about Winter, about Christmas and ice skating and snowball fights with their friends and...maybe the memories of spring would sort of...dwindle."

"You can't control dreams or memories, stupid girl-"

"I can control if people remember _other people._ Maybe they remember an old friend they went ice skating with, or remember how they always opened a gift early because their Dad let them."

"You stupid-"

"It...might work." Tooth said, her eye growing wide as she thought about it. "It wouldn't...it's not like us; you'd still exist but you'd definitely get weaker..."

"And Jack Frost would get stronger which frankly, is terrifying to imagine."

"I agree." Eros said, joining in again. "What? You all saw him with the horses."

"I can't believe you didn't tell us!" Tooth cried.

"The kid's upset." She said with a shrug. "I don't know what you think will happen even if you found him, he'd just run again, with or without his staff."

"Wait...you took him to see Sammy, without his staff?!" Tooth shouted, suddenly thinking of it. "What if Sammy hadn't seen who he was? What if Sammy had attacked?! Sammy doesn't like-"

"Guests? I'm aware."

"He hasn't got his staff? Where is it?" Dawn asked, eyes widening.

"You can't have it Dawn." She said, rolling her dark eyes. They still hadn't gone back to normal; it was worrying Eros. "It doesn't really...want anyone else to have it. I had to force it earlier."

She pulled one of her hands out from under the blanket and held it up; the wrist was the worst part. A black ring, a jagged line, wrapped around the main part of wrist. Small black lines, like veins, came out from it before fading into the colour of her skin, creating a network of nasty little black lines.

"That looks...pretty nasty." Bunny said, grimacing at the sight of the injured hand. "What did that...the nightmares?" He asked, hoping it hadn't been-

"The staff."

Damn.

"Well...that's..."

"Why did _you_ try to grab it, anyway?" Dawn asked.

"Who else was gonna give it to him in that swarm? They couldn't get closer and any time they tried the horses-" She shot a glare at Eros "- became angrier. Had to be someone they wouldn't see."

"...He lost the staff?" Tooth asked. "He...never mentioned..."

Again, she shrugged; it was starting to annoy Bunnymund.

"I don't know what you want me to say. I gave it to him, it didn't want me to touch but oh well, can't do anything about it now."

"Then we will go speak to Sam again." Dawn said. "His crows should make quick work of finding the boy."

"...You know Halloween prep has just started, right? I caught him juuust in time." She said, grinning again. "Funny that, isn't it?"

It was indeed very funny, or at least Sammy thought so when he was told by his crows what had happened in the fields that Dawn looked after; dozens upon dozens of pumpkins, everywhere the eye could see. He hoped he'd see the white haired boy again, he seemed like he'd be a lot of fun.


	29. Chapter 29 - She Looked Awesome

**Chapter Twenty-Nine  
** _She Looked Awesome_

"You are actually disgusting." Eros said, rolling his eyes at her grin. "I agree with the kid, you're eating chalk."

"...You know, I could leave-"

"No."

"But you-"

"I said no, kiddo, you're stuck here."

"Because you asked me to come!"

"So sit down!"

She gave a huff and dropped down again, sitting on her folded up legs, arms resting on the edge of the building's roof. They had been waiting for awhile now for the two girls to walk past. Eros didn't think valentine's day suited the two so after a very careful conversation with Sammy, he'd been given permission to shoot them tonight.

The streets were bustling, full of people in costumes walking from house to house; some running, some shouting to each other as they ran. She scanned the crowds, looking for the two girls and found them easily in the crowd, taking photos together in front of the scarecrow set up outside one of the houses. She sat up straighter so she could see the girls more clearly, when something small and blue hit her on the cheek.

"Ah! What the-" She waved her hands in front of her face before lowering them slowly and looked around in front of her, where she saw Baby Tooth, fluttering nervously.

"Uhhh, hello?"

Baby Tooth gave a flustered but friendly wave, before zooming around the girl's head, tugging on a lock of her hair.

"Ow! Hey, hey, careful."

"...Does she want you to follow her somewhere?" Eros asked as he was raising his bow and getting ready for the shoot. Six months of preparation; no big deal.

Baby Tooth gave a squeak and nodded.

"...Well, alright. I can't really fly after you though so..."She gave a glance sideways at Eros, who was looking out over the street. "Hold on tight to me and think of where you wanna go, alright? You have to focus or we might end up...well, anywhere really."

Baby Tooth settled on the girl's shoulder and nestled in between the fabric of the girl's coat and her skin. The girl wondered how such a small creature could be so warm. She closed her eyes and waited; usually the travel was instant but this time it took a moment, trying to follow where the little fairy wanted to go. Someone tugged at her arms and legs, then tugged sharply at her chest, pulling her body from where it was.

She felt her feet touch the ground suddenly; she was standing somewhere slippery, with what could be stones underneath her feet. The sudden feeling of falling caught up to her at once, like an elevator suddenly reaching it's stop and she felt her body lurch for a moment before she opened her eyes and the feeling vanished.

"So where are- oh."

She was near that little pond where Frost had left his staff; apparently others had found out about the stick. Three flower sprites, sentient flower creatures that reached roughly her waist in height were squabbling, standing over the staff which was still laying in the snow. They were all rose sprites, the personal workers of the Spring Spirit. So Dawn knew about the staff's actual location, did she? What a pain.

"Just grab it!" One of them said; the sprites all had deep, croaky voices which amused her to no end. She couldn't stop herself smiling at the voices as the sprites argued over the best way to grab the stick.

"You try! It keeps moving."

"It's a stick, idiot! How's it meant to move?"

"You're a flower, how're you meant to move?" She asked, injecting herself into the argument. The three flowers spun to glare at whoever had found them.

"Ah, what do you want?" The largest of the three asked, waving a leafy arm at her in a gesture of 'oh who cares?' "Bored of your boyfriend for now?"

"Same as why you lot are out here, getting some time away from Mummy, I'm bored." She said, shrugging, leaning her shoulder against a tree nearby. "Watcha up to?"

"We're working, not that you know the meaning of the word. We got told to come have a look at it, magical items shouldn't just be left laying around."

"Do you need to grab stuff to look at it?"

"We weren't going to touch it, you stupid girl." One of the other sprites spat in annoyance.

"Oh good, I don't recommend it." She said, grinning just a little.

"Oh yeah? Why?" The main one sneered. They watched as she held up an arm and let the cuff of her coat sleeve fall just a little, just enough to reveal the injured wrist; the dark veins had spread further since she had shown the Guardians. Not far but far enough she had noticed it.

"What did that to you? Eros finally get sick of you? Knew you'd be the clingy type."

She glanced at her wrist, then slowly moved her eyes to settle on the staff and shrugged.

"...You tell me a stick did that? We're not stupid."

"...I mean, you sort of are, if you're trying to take something belonging to a Guardian." She shrugged. "I get your Mummy dearest is upset she wasn't chosen by the moon fellow but it's no reason to steal from a Guardian."

"You watch your tongue." One of them warned, stepping closer. "You gonna stop us taking it? What's it to you anyway? The guardians don't have time to even know you exist let alone-"

She had noticed the stick leaning next to the tree trunk and decided it looked pretty good, thick and sturdy, long enough to be a walking stick. It also made a pleasing crack as she grabbed it quickly with both hands and brought it up, smashing it into the face of the closest sprite; the larger one. The other two let out angry snarls and leapt into the fight, using their thorned leafy arms to reach out and scratch at her.

"I was just warning you guys!" She called out cheerfully, using the stick to whack at their arms, keeping them at a safer distance. This whole stick thing looked a lot easier when the kid was doing it. "I was really looking forward to tonight, you know?! You couldn't do this another day?"

"Looking forward to what?!" One of them snarled. "You don't have a special day; you don't have a holiday! You've got no occassion!"

"I certainly do!" She shouted, throwing the stick aside and holding her palms towards the creatures. "It's called a funeral!"

Baby Tooth could feel the bubble come out from the girl, but she wasn't affected by the force the girl spread out from her body. The sprites certainly did; they seemed to realise what was about to happen, only to have no time to avoid it. The wall of energy struck them and threw them back, sending them into the nearby wall of ice and rocks that made up the small cliff near the pond. It wasn't tall, barely above her head but, there was still a wall. The bubble dissipated and she was standing there alone, watching the three sprites lay exhausted and sore on the ground, unmoving. She knew they weren't dead, unfortunately.

"Right, little fairy. Let's...not tell Jack I just did that?" She asked, glancing down at the small fairy nestled into her coat pocket. When had she moved? "Can't have the kid seeing me in a different light. Even if I probably looked awesome doing it."

Baby Tooth let out an excited squeak and zoomed up, flying around the girl's head a few times before nestling in near her ear to give the girl a hug.

"Just need another of you and I'd have some new earrings." She said, smirking. "Back to Eros and you can head home, alright?"

Eyes shut, eyes open; she was next to Eros. She felt the little fairy flutter and leave through her hair, flying away from the group from behind, to avoid being seen by the newcomer. Jack Frost had, at some point, joined Eros on the roof and was settled down next to the man, watching the crowds with a smile on his face.

Good, the kid needed to smile once in a while. Jack noticed her arrival and looked over at her to smile but frowned; she didn't realise quite how covered in cuts and bruises she was from the fight.


	30. Chapter 30 - Makes Sense

**Chapter Thirty**

 **** _ **Ballerina Makes The Most Sense**_

"What-"

Jack was cut off by Eros cheering to himself; he had managed to fire a clean, exact shot at the girls and hit the one he wanted. She was the more direct of the two girls and he hoped she'd be the better of the two to alter the direction of the friendship with the girl she had gone out with for Halloween. They were good friends but Eros knew both had stronger feelings for the other, they just weren't aware each other felt the same. He liked young love the most, when it was full of passion and easily broken hearts; young one's tended to be the most powerful in terms of magical energy.

With a pleased grin he hooked his bow over his shoulder and turned his gaze to look at her; his face fell into a frown as well. He moved quickly to grab her shoulders and check her over, seeing what wounds she had returned with.

"What the hell happened to you? Where did that fairy take you?" He asked, pulling his hands away and folding his arms over his chest, though he wanted to hold her properly. He did regard her as a little sister and he hated seeing her so battered and bruised. He had no idea how she'd react if he actually said it out loud, so he never had and he doubted he ever would.

"Fairy?" Jack asked, standing up slowly. "What fairy?"

"Autumn." She answered quickly, glancing at Eros, who was looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "She sent one of her little helpers to ask for a favour and I ran into trouble on my way back, as I tend to do."

"Autumn?"

"Yeah, she's the spirit of Fall."

"…Wait, what about Sammy?"

"Sammy's the spirit of Halloween, and Autumn is the spirit of Fall."

"…The spirit of Fall is called Autumn?" Jack asked, disbelief evident on his face. "You're not very good at jokes."

"Nonsense, of course I am." She said, smiling at him. "And I'm not joking. You'd like her, she's really nice. Isn't she, Eros?"

Jack noticed the blush creep up Eros' neck; the man shot the girl a glare but didn't say anything back to her comment.

"She's plenty nice, busy though so Idunno if you'd really get to meet her kid." Eros said to Jack, ignoring the smug look on her face behind him. "Her and Sammy get along super well, if you ask either of them for anything both will probably offer help."

"…Like the pumpkin seeds?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure he told her about them but, she tends not to get involved with other spirits. She finds them…tiring, or so she says. I think she just likes to watch the drama unfold from a safe distance."

Eros rolled his eyes but smiled at her, then looked at Jack with the same friendly smile.

"Well, we should head home, this one needs some patching up. Wanna join us, kid? Could get a hot chocolate going for you…or a cold chocolate?"

Jack gave a chuckle at Eros' slightly embarrassed offering but declined, saying he had never really explored Halloween and wanted to walk around. The blonde girl suspected that one of Jack's humans were there but she didn't say anything.

Jamie was there but only for a short while; he left before it got too late, heading back home with his parent's with a generous supply of trick or treating candy. He began the journey back to his graveyard, and once he was there he realised it was the wrong one. He had walked the wrong direction and found himself in a larger graveyard with larger, more ornate tombstones than the one he had been hiding in.

Three girls in costumes were walking around, looking at the gravestones and reading them out loud to each other, before continuing on to other sections of the graveyard. One of the girls, dressed as some sort of fairy with a ring of flowers sitting on her brown hair was shivering. One of the other girls was shivering as well, despite the heavy white jacket pulled on over her ballerina costume.

Jack blinked, staring at the ballerina girl; blonde hair, a familiar face…he'd followed her sister here, or found her here at least, without even meaning to. She seemed to have friends with her, the girl with the flower crown and the third girl, who was dressed as what looked like a bumble bee.

"Where is it?" The girl with the flowers asked.

"This way." The blonde ballerina said, smiling over at her friends.

The other two girls followed her down a pathway, all three of them giggling as they chatted amongst themselves. Finally they stopped in front of a grave stone, and the girl in the ballerina costume stepped closer, the other two staying back, and knelt down at the foot of the grave. Jack stopped behind them and pulled himself up into a tree. He settled on one of the thick branches and watched the girls.

"It's Halloween." She said. "I…I dressed as a ballerina, again. It wasn't a great idea if I'm honest…I'm freezing."

"Not the only one." The bee girl mumbled, which the ballerina laughed at. It was a bright, loud laugh that made Jack smile.

The girl stood up and pulled the coat closer around herself, smiling out from amongst the white fur that lined the inside of the hood.

"I should get going before we all freeze to death." She said, still smiling. "Do you remember that story Mum used to tell us? When we stayed outside for too long? She always told us that if were out for too long we'd get to know Jack Frost…"

What?

"I think we might tonight, we've been out for ages. I'll…I won't be able to come visit you for Christmas, I'll be in New York. We're all performing for Christmas Eve…i think you'd enjoy the show." She glanced back at her friends for a moment. She turned back and looked at the grave again. "I hope you're having a good Halloween…goodnight, Sarah."

The three girls turned and left the graveyard together, the ballerina in between the other girls as if they were protecting her.

"Come back!" Jack shouted without thinking and jumped from his tree. He ran from the graveyard and followed the girls until they reached a busy street. "No, no, no."

They had separated and gone their own ways, with the ballerina waving goodbye to her friends as they climbed into cars and left. She waited a moment before turning and walking along the sidewalk, heading away from the busy street. Jack followed, unsure why he was keeping any distance, and watched her. The way she walked reminded him of Tooth. She was so…graceful. It made him think of her on the stage, being watched by him and her sister.

"Avery!" A voice called out from behind him. "Avery!"

She turned at the voice and looked towards Jack, looking out for whoever had been shouting. Her eyebrows sat a little higher, surprised by who she saw running to catch up with her.

"Avery! Hey- are you a ballerina?" A boy asked, reaching her. He had been close to walking through Jack but the winter spirit was able to step back and avoid them meeting.

"A cold one." She said. "Not the best choice."

"No it..well, it makes sense." The boy said, slipping his hands into the pockets on his jacket. "It looks good."

"Oh-"

"I mean, it's…nice, the colour. I mean…it looks nice."

Excuse me, Jack thought, I'm trying to figure out how she knows my name. Go away.

"It's my training leotard." The girl said. "Seemed like a waste of money to buy a costume when I already own like, five of these."

"Oh right, I can…that makes sense." The boy said. "I was…wondering…with the ballet thing…are you any good at ice skating?"

"I've never done it before." She said.

She had turned so that her body was facing the boy now. He was only a few inches taller than her, with short brown hair that was somewhat longer and styled at the front.

"Oh…okay."

"Why were you wondering that?"

"I was…wondering if you'd…wanna go with me, sometime." The boy said with his eyes on the sidewalk.

"Where?"

"The lake usually starts freezing in November…but if it's not your thing I understand-"

"I'd like to." She said. "If the lake is safe, that is. Just let me know when."

"Yeah…yeah, sure! I'll see you round." The boy said, giving her a lopsided smile before darting off back the way he'd come from.

The girl shook her head but smiled before she continued on her way. Jack followed her until they reached a house, which she headed towards and went inside.

"Come back!" Jack called out. "How do you know my name?!"

Jack was confused and excited. Sure, she was a teenager but she was a human who knew his name!

He could work with this.

He could try and make someone believe.


End file.
